The Taste Of Freedom
by XavierForest
Summary: Allen Walker: The socially awkward loner. Yu Kanda: The wolf trying to protect his pack. What happens when these two meet, and the latter is not quite what he seems? And what's this about the scientific theory of recombinant DNA? wolf/human!KandaXhuman!Allen (Yullen) Dark Themes. Romance. (M rated for a reason)
1. Prologue - And So It Begins

**Prologue – And so it begins**

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**Yu Kanda**

_Running. Panting._

_Escape._

_There's a bang. Blood. A whimper. _

_Lavi's been hit._

_I growl._

_Lenalee's claws slide across the shiny silver surface._

_It's too late for the rest. I'll have to return later. For now I must protect these two._

_I WILL return._

_Another bang. Howling._

_Searing pain flares across my ribcage._

_I can't falter. They need me. I must survive. _

_The light is disappearing. The door is falling._

_Out._

_Colours replaced the white._

_Trees. The first we've seen in years. Everywhere._

_Blue._

_It's the sky… I've never seen it before…_

_Beautiful._

_Seconds turn to minutes, minutes to hours._

_How long have we been running? How far have we gone? Where are we? Where are they? Are they following us?_

Are we free?

_A wide road. Something rumbles. Two bright lights grow larger._

_My body freezes._

_Something screeches._

_A face pales through glass._

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Okay, this is going to be my first real Yullen fanfic, so I hope whoever reads this enjoys it.

And no, I'm not gonna have 'em do a ton of pervy stuff straight off the bat, I mean, COME ON, this is KANDA and ALLEN we're talking about. I have to wait for all the character development and stuff to take place, then there's the storyline to think about…..

Anyway, review if you want, please no flames, and 'recombinant DNA' is just when you combine two lifeforms/DNA to create something else…. That's the easiest way to explain it (human crossed with cat may create someone with claws, a tail and fuzzy ears, ya get me?)


	2. Chapter 1 - Just Let Me Help

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Hehe, I forgot to add that when animals (the wolves) speak to each other it will be represented as 'this'. Normal speech is "this". Thoughts/flashback/dreams are _this _and are easily distinguishable from one another.

In case you're wondering, when it says **Allen Walker, **then it will be in Allen's first person point of view, but if it says **Yu Kanda**, then it will be third person Kanda's point of view…. If you can understand that…

**Chapter 1 – Just let me help**

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**Allen Walker**

Weariness settles itself deep into my body as my Toyota Corolla's semi-broken heater threatens to lull me to sleep. A shake of my head fends off the feeling; falling asleep while driving is like digging your own grave, even more so when in THIS place. Framed by thick woodlands on either side, and without even a single light, this road is without a doubt one of the most dangerous areas in the country, especially considering the fact that animals have taken to crossing it at any given time.

A shadow flits across my peripheral vision, startling me out of my musings. Glancing ahead, my headlights shine on multiple figures, casting three long shadows on the otherwise empty stretch of road. "Bloody hell!" I curse, reflexively spinning the wheel to the side, praying to whatever godly power exists that neither I nor these creatures wind up dead.

My foot slams down on the brake and my head is thrown forward onto the dashboard. The aching of my nose greets me as my head lolls back onto my shoulder. Fumbling with the door handle, I stumble out of the car, a quick glance telling me that my car isn't totalled, meaning I'll be able to drive myself to the hospital if need be.

With a deep sigh, I turn towards the road, fully expecting whatever had caused this whole mess to have long since fled. So that's why I'm surprised with what I see, my gasp alerting the creatures to my presence. Three wolves glare back at me, each one a different colour and breed, but that obviously didn't stop two of them from standing between the injured one and me protectively.

The injured one's fur seems almost black in the moonlight, but I can see faint traces of a darker blue tinting hidden by the darkness, giving it a beautiful ultramarine sheen. Another, most likely female, has the leaner body of the trio, deep emerald fur on edge as it watches what it undoubtedly presumes to be a threat; me. The final wolf's fur is a cross between bright red and a deep crimson, the image searing itself in my mind.

_Since when do wolves have blue, green or red fur?_

A strong scent of blood emanates from their direction. Without even a second thought, I rush over to the wolves, concern driving out even my feelings of self-preservation, which I probably should have kept considering the situation I'm in. The wolves seem to freeze, that is, until the injured one lashes out at me, fangs sinking into my right forearm, its cerulean eyes glaring up at me with such intense hatred that I momentarily forgot about what it's doing. Momentarily. _Well shit._

**Yu Kanda**

The white-haired human seems to barely register the pain at first, but when it does, it just winces. _Che. No fun._

Seeking another response, the Alpha bites down harder, hoping to force more of a reaction from the strange human.

'YU!' Lavi yelps at his Alpha, concern obvious from the way a dying whine leaves his throat shortly after.

Satisfaction shines within the navy-coloured wolf's eyes as the human hisses in pain, a grimace pulling at its pale features. And then, ever-so-slowly, the human brings its spare gloved hand to the other's muzzle, careful to do nothing more than lightly run its fingers along the soft, now blood-mattered fur. " It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you; I promise." It smiles painfully, voice unusually steady despite the fact that its arm was currently in the mouth of a carnivorous canine who could render it armless in seconds.

This action just increases the three wolves' suspicion; after all, how often had they been fed those lines. Promises made by a human amount to nothing more than pain, disappointment and seemingly endless feelings of hopelessness.

The human furrows its brow, before taking another breath and lowering itself onto its knees, gaze turning towards the ground and away from the Alpha's eyes in a sign of submission, letting its left hand fall back down to its side. Surprised by the sudden turn of events, the injured wolf slowly detaches his teeth from the bloodied flesh.

With eyes still plastered to the road, the human takes its right arm back before speaking up once again in a soothing voice. "Calm down; I just want to take care of your wounds."

A snarl complete with bared teeth is all the response it gets.

"Shhh. I won't hurt you. Now, can you stay here while I get my first aid kit? I'll be right back." It continues before standing up hesitantly, then turning to run back in the direction it came from.

Once realising that he could no longer move, the Alpha wolf known as Yu Kanda snarled. The only reason that the he hadn't killed the human had been its eyes; pools of ghostly silver shining with innocence and worry, expressions that none had seen on anyone other than their pack mates. There was also that strange mark marring its face….

After a short while, the human came back panting and cradling a plastic box, injured arm draining its energy fast; and yet, this strange creature didn't even seem to notice, far too caught up in the wellbeing of others to even think of caring for itself. With practised movements, the human placed the box on the ground roughly three metres away from the Alpha's form, flipping the plastic catches open with ease. Eyeing the box's contents, the still-gloved left hand reached in and pulled out multiple rolls of bandages, followed soon after by a small bag of cotton balls and a bottle of clear questionable liquid.

A tentative smile plays at the human's lips, still taking care to not let their eyes meet. It goes to screw of the bottle's lid with its right hand, but upon seeing its own bloodied arm, the human simply wipes its appendage against its white shirt, staining the once pristine fabric a bright cerise. Continuing on with its previous actions, the human tips the bottle, a cotton ball soaking up the few drops that spill out. Noticing the wolf's immediate distrust of the liquid, the human dons that annoying smile, and, instead of advancing forward, tips some of the fluid onto its own wound with another wince. "See? It's just saline."

'Kanda…' Lenalee's yip holds a hint of caution.

The Alpha releases an almost silent sigh. 'If it does anything wrong, just kill it.'

Both Betas bow their heads, taking another step closer to their Alpha. Not even half a second later, the human decides to move forward

Slender digits finger their way through navy fur, searching for ridges or blood, any indication as to where to find the beginning and end of the Alpha's laceration. Kanda would never admit it, but the feeling of those hands running through his coat felt oddly pleasing.

As those fingers brushed against one of the more painful sections of the tear, the wolf had to bite back a yelp, and yet, somehow this human realised what it had done, and began to prepare more sodden cotton balls. "Hold still." The human advised, far too lost in thought to notice the two distrustful glares of the Betas.

Gently dabbing at the Alpha's side sends a sharp wave throbbing through his body. Unable to hold back his cry of pain, he leaps forward, effectively pinning the human to the ground, giving the former a perfect view of the latter's eyes, which weren't showing fear, as they should have been. No; instead of fear, those liquid stars held a sort of surprised bemusement. "Did you really think it wasn't going to hurt?"

In response, the ticked off Alpha simply sends a death-glare to the pale figure tending to his wounds; which does nothing more than amuse said figure. Until of course, the Alpha digs his claws into the human's chest, resulting in yet another wince.

To say that this human knew what it was doing would have been an understatement; the way that the wounds were so efficiently cleaned and bandages, especially from that position, suggested prior experience, as if this wasn't the first time that something like this had happened. The gash had been expertly dressed, rivalling even the skills of those blasted scientists back at the place that the shrunken pack had escaped from.

"There! All done." The human wiggles its small form out from under the wolf, standing and taking a step back, as if to survey and admire its own work, wiping blood-stained hands against pant legs, the crimson once again transferring from skin to fabric.

"Next!" The human's eyes travel, only to land on Lavi.

Uncertainly, Lavi moves at the slight nod of Kanda's head, unsure as to whether or not this was truly the right choice.

Lavi held still whilst the human tended to his eye, all the while fighting back his instincts telling him to render the foe to shreds. Those instincts soon dampened, somewhat replaced by and odd sense of calm he had so rarely felt; unless, of course, he was with his pack.

The human casts a quick glance at Lenalee and smiles. "You're not injured, are you?" It asks, tone betraying that it already knew the answer.

With but a nod, the human transferred its full attention back to the male Beta, just finishing with wrapping a particularly long bandage around the latter's right eye.

Now with nothing to do, the human glances each wold awkwardly, probably unsure as to what to do now.

"So…..uh….Bye?" The human seemed to be almost hesitant to leave.

"Those injuries are going to take a while to heal…. Do you want to come with me?" It continues, finally getting to the point.

At the Alpha's growl, the human once again simply smiles. "I guess that's a 'no' then, huh?"

"Well, it was nice meeting you." It adds with a wave before heading back in the direction it came from, taking the plastic box with it.

All is silent till a giant metal THING backs into the wolves' sight, emitting an annoying rumbling sound. From where they sit, the trio of wolves see the human casts one last worried glance in their direction before disappearing into the darkness of night that had only just recently fallen

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So… Like? Hate? Are the characters too OOC?

Someone at work saw me typing this so she stole my computer and read the chapter when it was only half finished. She liked it, so now I have to email her every chapter I finish.

I imagine that people who have read some of my other stories may have noticed that my writing style is different; that's because it changes depending on the story I'm writing and what I think suits it best.

Also; I'm guessing that updates for this will be sporadic…..

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Previous Chapter – **And so it begins**

Next Chapter – **Dinner and a show**


	3. Chapter 2 - Dinner And A Show

**Chapter 2 – Dinner and a show**

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**Allen Walker**

I take a deep breath, willing myself to act as if I don't notice them; the cold stares that follow me wherever I go. It's quite painfully obvious that I'm not wanted here, what with all the whispering and glaring going on when people think I'm not looking. I want to hate them, to scream at the top of my lungs that I'm human too, but the reality of the situation is that I won't. Sometimes I wish I could die, but I know that I'm far too weak to ever do such a thing. This body of mine is so tainted and repulsive; it's the perfect representation of who I really am. Those people don't quite know it, but they're right. Everything they say about me is true in more ways than they can even imagine. I'm disgusting. Filthy. Ugly. Monster. Freak.

To them, I'm just the unlucky, cursed child who is followed around by misfortune and death. That too, is true; the people who chose to get close to me did fall into the habit. My father, my mother, adoptive father…. And then there's the trouble I got into with the police two years ago….

With the brightest smile I can manage, I hand my groceries over to the cashier who gingerly takes them one-by-one, probably thinking that if she has anymore contact with me than necessary, she'll become a freak too.

As calmly as I am able, I take the plastic bags handed to me by the woman, thanking her for her service. This is the way it always is; they want me gone while I pretend to be as oblivious and stupid as they always think me to be.

Gently placing the groceries into the backseat of my car, I continue to ignore the people around me, even when a little girl points at me from across the street, asking why her mother is telling her to stay away from the weird boy with white hair.

I lightly slam the car door shut behind me, fingers tightening on the wheel as I try to slowly back out of the parking lot, still ignoring the dirty looks I'm shot every time someone catches sight of me.

It's only natural for them to act like that…after all….

Shaking my head to free myself from those depressing thought, I press my foot down harder on the pedal, the speedometer inching higher, indicating my car's rise in speed with every passing second.

Today, I've decided, I'll take a detour home. Okay, if I'm being honest, it's not really a detour. It's in the complete opposite direction from where my house is. But my curiosity over whether or not those wolves would still be there won me over in the end.

As yesterday was Friday, I'd been working a little later in to the day at the town near here, where they didn't know who I was. There, I was just the strange boy with a dye-job gone wrong and a punk-style tattoo on his face. And in my line of work, weird characters were a common enough occurrence that someone like me wasn't questioned all too much.

Now on that long stretch of road once again, I slow down, trying to remember where exactly it was that I'd seen the wolves. Too bad every tree looked exactly like the rest.

I pull the car to a stop, soon stepping out in to the evening air, a plastic bag hanging off of my wrist as I shut the door with a huff of annoyance, silently watching as a small cloud of fog is created from the breath.

Glancing around, I tug my jacket tighter around my body, trying to conserve as much bodily heat as possible.

Biting down on my bottom lip, I hesitantly step off of the road and into the thick green foliage of the surrounding forest.

"Hello?" I call out, the sound creating a faint echo as it travels through the woodland.

With eyes darting from side to side, every small sound has my heart thrashing in my chest. So maybe this wasn't the best idea…

Something snaps behind me, and I perform a perfect 180 on the spot, the bag bumping into my side when I suddenly halt my movement. Presuming the sound to have been a twig snapping underfoot, I'm reassured to find that the two-and-a-half pairs of different-coloured orbs staring at me with clear hostility at me from the shrubbery are able to confirm my suspicions.

At the relief that floods through me, I have to mentally chastise myself over the fact that I'm currently feeling relieved over the fact that I'm all alone in a forest with nothing but possibly ravenous wolves for company.

Swallowing my sudden discomfort, I let a grin tug at my lips. "Oh good; you're still here!"

Azure eyes meet Violet, and I'm left staring into the most beautiful of green that seems to be studying me, something in its gaze suggesting far more intelligence than any normal animal should possess.

While he studies me, I return the favour, pleasantly surprised when noting that the bandages where still properly tied in place. "Good, looks like they didn't come undone…" I mutter, more to myself than the trio who had turned their full attention back onto me, observing my every move.

Uncomfortable with their sudden caution, I stare down at my feet. "So…I thought that you guys might be hungry…"

So I realise that at this point, I may be crazy, talking to animals and all; but I swear that these three can understand me.

"It's a good thing today was groceries day. You guys are wolves, so I'm guessing you want meat?" I continue, not bothering to mention that I'd actually gone out for the sole reason of bringing them food.

When taking out the meat, I make sure to remove my right glove, so as not to dirt the material unnecessarily. My left one doesn't matter too much. If I take that one off, it might scare the wolves. Ripping the cling-wrap proves to be a challenge, but when the stuff finally tears, animal blood drips its way down my hands, staining the white glove.

Without even waiting for any sort of reaction, I hold out the meat to the still cautious and distrustful wolves. For some reason, they don't move an inch, instead glancing between each other as if unsure as to what it was they were to do.

Feeling my eyebrows knit together in confusion, my head tilts to the side. "Are you not hungry?"

Why wouldn't they eat? Had they captured a deer or some other defenceless animal and feasted earlier? If so, where was the evidence? Where was the blood that should stain their muzzles?

And that's when realisation struck. "Don't tell me… you think it's poisoned or something?"

Three heads swivelled back in my direction, wolfy faces betraying nothing.

"But you saw me take it out of the packaging…"

They continue to stare at me, the navy-coloured wolf's eyes narrowing into a sharp glare.

Sighing in resignation at the apparent rejection, I bring the raw meat to my lips, wrinkling my nose in disgust as the smell of animal blood invades my senses. Hesitantly, I tear off a tiny portion of the red meat with my teeth, wanting to vomit as I chew it, before letting it slide its slimy way down my throat, where it leaves a foul aftertaste on my tongue. _I really hope that I don't get food poisoning from this._

Now that that's out of the way, I hold out the meat once more, offering it over to the wolves, who appear to be shocked at the unexpected development.

**Yu Kanda**

Lavi looks over at his Alpha with a pleading green eye. 'Yu...'

His response was a low growl, followed up by the instruction of 'Eat'.

The only female in the group shook her head, dead set against the idea of eating before her Alpha.

Snarling, Kanda's dark fur bristled. 'It's my job to protect you; so EAT.' He ordered, tone alone, commanding absolute obedience.

Continuing to hold out what lay in its hand, the human's wavering smile solidified when violet eyes shift from human to Alpha and back again, before the she-wolf padded forwards, enticed by the scent of raw meat. It was clear that the human was pleased when Lenalee actually began to eat, wasting no time in devouring the beef, afterwards whining when her stomach still begged for more.

Fumbling with another pack, the human used its teeth to remove the clingy wrappings surrounding the meat. The second that the animal flesh had left its packaging, Lavi tore it from the human's hands, utterly ravenous and unable to think straight due to his stomach growling in protest.

Quickly reaching down for more, the human completely missed Kanda advancing until it glanced back up and their noses were almost touching. Before it could even yelp at the sudden proximity of their faces, the navy wolf licked away at the blood on the former's lower face, whom now had its mouth squeezed firmly shut in a thin line.

If this didn't scare off the human, Kanda didn't know what would. Back when any one of his pack had tried licking one of the white-coated humans, the reactions received were always along the lines of backing away or screams of revulsion, much to the amusement of any non-human spectators.

From the squished-up-face look he was getting, the Alpha expected it to work, too. So that was why, when the human chuckled, he all but fell over.

Clutching at its sides, the human clutched at its sides, dropping to the ground in the wolf's place and falling into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

Exasperated, Kanda takes a step back. 'What the fuck is wrong with this thing?'

Observing the boy with his singular shamrock eye, Lavi let out a sigh. 'Just our luck to get the crazy one.'

It was after an infuriating minute that the human finally stopped laughing, wiping the saliva of its face with a sleave. "S-sorry about that."

The crimson wolf cocked his head, noting the way that laughter lit up this human's eyes, causing them to lose their slightly haunted look. Turning to the rest of the pack, Lavi fixed his gaze to the ground. 'We're in no condition to stay here. Yu… I think… maybe we should stay with the human…" He trailed off, waiting for the reprimand that was sure to come.

Surprised by the lacking of resistance presented by his Alpha, the Beta hesitantly locked eyes with the wolf, who sighed.

'Well?' Lavi prodded.

A slight bobbing of the head was his answer, and the tension drained from the Beta's body. When like this, Kanda would sometimes take his gaze connecting with another as a challenge, and it never ended well for whoever he presumed that challenger to be. Their Alpha acted first and asked questions later, but the wolves wouldn't have him any other way. That's what made Kanda KANDA, after all.

After finishing off the rest of the meat, the human held up its hands in an apologetic gesture as Lavi whined. "I'm sorry; that was the last of it."

Moving to stand, the human was jerked to a stop by the simple fact that its shirt's fabric was in the jaws of a certain Alpha. Seeming startled, silver orbs widened at meeting Azure, and were quickly averted.

"Huh?" Was its genius reply.

And_ this_ was yet another reason Kanda why hated the human species; they were so _stupid_. Couldn't they even understand this much?

During his internal rant, pale fingers worked at detaching fangs from fabric, which, of course, irritated the canine to no end.

Releasing the material, Kanda watched with some amusement as the human fell backwards, sprawling out amongst the leaves and twigs with a groan.

Now wary of the navy-coloured wolf, the human scrambled back up to its feet with the aid of a tree.

It was obvious from the look in its eyes that the human had absolutely no idea as to why the wolf was acting the way it was, and that it was uncomfortable.

Dismissing whatever it had been thinking, the two-legged creature turned, trying to make its way towards the giant THING it had arrived in.

Clear confusion only intensified when silver eyes glanced back to notice the three following close behind. Swallowing audibly, slender fingers gripped thinly-clothed arms. "What are you…?" It trailed off, snowy brows furrowing.

Then the pieces must have finally been put together, because the human pointed to its strange contraption with a frown. "Do you want to…?"

Obviously no response was given to the human. After all, even if one had, it wouldn't have been understood. Or misinterpreted. And then things could potentially get ugly…

With a strange clicking sound, the side of the THING opened, revealing that it must have been a door of sorts.

Stepping to the side, the human appeared genuinely surprised when Lenalee climbed into the THING and onto a rather soft looking seat. Its reaction to Lavi following the female Beta, though, was much more subdued.

Peering through the door, Kanda growled. There were more of those bags of the seat, so with the addition of both his Beta's, there wasn't any room left for him.

Apparently just noticing this, the human moved further along the side of the THING, opening a new door, which leads to another seat, this one being in front of the others.

As Kanda raised his paw to jump in, he accidentally let a whimper slip as pain lanced through his side from where he's tugged at his wound. He fought back the urge to whine when the pain refused to subside, instead choosing to spread and cause his legs to collapse out from under him.

Before the Beta's could go to their Alpha's aid, said Alpha suddenly found himself being lifted by something warm, owning a delectable scent that he couldn't place, and holding him close. A light humming filled his ears, and then he was positioned comfortably on the seat by the same creature that owned the suddenly intoxicating scent.

Concern-filled silver were wide, and Kanda realised what had happened. He'd collapsed. And that scent had been the human's. For but a second, he'd been entranced by that oddly sweet scent, and disgust now filled him to the core.

Humans were monsters, they'd all been forced into learning that lesson again and again, until it had been ingrained into their very beings, but here he was, relying on one to save this tiny portion of his family. What would the others say if they saw him now? They'd be just as repulsed as he, no doubt.

Silently, Kanda vowed that once he'd finished using this human, he'd rip out its throat and watch as those silver eyes turned a dull grey. That's what they deserved; that's what they ALL deserved. Those monstrous things would be forced to regret their useless existences when he was through with them. After losing so many, mercy wasn't something anyone would ever associate Kanda of having. And at that moment, mercy was the last thing on his mind.

An unknown sound filled the afternoon air, shocking the Alpha from his thought, turning his attention to the shaken human still beside him. The door then slammed shut and a shut and Kanda heard a muffled string off apologies, followed by a rough voice that sounded angry.

Quickly throwing open another door, the human slips in, feet and hands moving in what seem to be memorised movements before the THING started vibrating and rolled forwards.

Kanda could hear muttering from beside him, and from what he could gather, someone wasn't pleased. "Bastard didn't have to honk… People can be so rude…could've waited…arsehole..."

It continued on hat way for a while: trees passing by the windows, sky growing darker, muttering getting lower in volume until the words were disjointed mumblings of an angry teenager.

A hand reached out to prevent the Alpha from falling off of the seat when the THING came to a sudden stop.

"Sorry 'bout that." The human muttered while opening his door, shutting it once he was fully out.

For a minute or so, the three wolves listened to the sound of something banging not far off, and then the door beside the two in the back was opened, revealing a grassy, fenced-off area.

From the looks of it, this was where an abundance of those humans could be found, seeing as rows and rows of houses stood out against the barely-lit sky.

Both Betas jumped down out of the car, taking in their surroundings with gloom. After finally escaping from those humans, they'd ended up back in the throng of them.

Fixing their attention back to the human, they noticed that it already held their Alpha in its arms, closing the door with its hip. "Come on." It called as it started towards the open door of its dwelling.

From where he fumed, Kanda had to surpass his desire to mutilate the human beyond recognition. Not once, but TWICE he'd been carried around like some sort of pup.

Being set down on the ground calms the Alpha's nerves, as does when his Beta's come over to nuzzle into his side and the human disappeared with a quick 'make yourselves at home'.

Once done, the wolves wordlessly checked out their new location, the first thing coming to mind when seeing it was that it was… bare. A shiny black box sat next to a wall, nearby was some kind of elongated chair. There were no decorations. No pictures. No rugs. It was almost like no one really lived here at all.

When the human returned from wherever it was that it had been, all noticed that those thin arms were full of some strangely-coloured materials. As the bundle fell to the ground, it was clear that with the way the human was spreading out the fabrics, this was where they were expected to sleep for the night.

To be honest; it was much better that any of them had been given before.

A cold metal floor, freezing to the touch. Dreary metal walls, too dull to reflect anything. And that blasted hole in the ceiling that constantly let out frozen air, despite the fact that it was already subzero in temperature.

THAT had been the extent to their hospitality; so this actually felt quite nice.

Warmed blankets. Air only with the slightest of chills.

To them; this was perfection.

By now, the human had finished laying out the bedding, so it stood with a smile. "I'll be going to bed now; I need an early start tomorrow."

After being left to their own devices, the wolves couldn't believe that everything had happened so quickly. It was like that human had pulled them into its pace and they'd been willingly forced along for the ride.

Shaking his head, Kanda made to stand, when a retching sound drifted down the hallway.

Lavi's ears perked up. 'I just remembered something; humans are supposed to get sick if they don't cook their meat, right?'

Exchanging glances, the pack creep silently over to the bathroom entrance; where the human huffed over the porcelain bowl, sweat fresh on its forehead.

With a groan, the human stood, turning on the sink tap ad bending to rinse its mouth out under the water.

Noticing them in the doorway; the human gave them an awkward smile. "Sorry for that."

Rubbing at the purple splotches of colour under its eyes, the human sighed.

"Just go to sleep." It muttered, walking unsteadily out of the room and down the hall, where, soon-after, a door almost silently slammed shut.

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Well?

Sorry for not updating sooner; I'm hoping to fall into a update-every-two-weeks pattern. Don't know if I will, but I shall try!

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Previous Chapter – **Just let me help**

Next Chapter – **Not so submissive **


	4. Chapter 3 - Not So Submissive

**Chapter 3 – Not So Submissive **

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**Allen Walker**

All I'd done was gone to the kitchen to prepare breakfast when that navy-tinged wolf appeared, fangs bared and all, growling at me every time I moved. _What did I do?!_

Eyeing me with its deep blue eyes, the wolf, probably an Alpha from the way the others were acting, circled my still form.

A light grumbling sound interrupts the silence, leaving my cheeks burning and eyes wide. Awkwardly rubbing my stomach, I abruptly turn and try to reach the kitchen before the possible-Alpha can realise what I'm about to do, only to be cut off by said animal.

Moving to step around the wolf, I stop because of the low growl emanating from deep within his throat.

"Listen," I begin through gritted teeth, "I'm hungry; so stop being such a dick and move out of my way."

Before I can rectify the mistake of letting our gazes meet, I glare down at the animal. He glares back up at me, a hint of surprise flashing in those cobalt orbs.

Neither of us looks away; after all, whoever did so would be considered the loser, and there was no way that was going to be me. This was all a matter of pr– _What the hell am I thinking?! It's a WOLF for Christ's sake!_

In that short moment of sudden mental scolding, I'd temporarily let my eyes trail off from the staring contest.

BIG MISTAKE.

Without my notice, the Alpha-wolf's face had somehow slipped into what I guess could be called a wolfy sneer, thought it may just have been the emotions present in his eyes. Either way; it was obvious that I'd lost, and he'd now see himself as better than me. _Dammit!_

"Stupid poodle." I mutter under my breath.

That seemed to catch his attention. Unfortunately for me, not only was my insult heard, but somehow understood.

Dashing forward with animalistic grace, the four-legged canine barrelled straight into my legs, ducking low so as to knock my feet out from under me and force me to fall flat on my face.

As I try to scramble to my feet, a heavy force collides with my side, effectively knocking me back down to the floor. Before I can even begin to try and stand again, something pins me to the ground.

The pain in my face from the fall making itself known has me groaning, as does the pain from various other parts of my body that I hadn't even realised had been injured. As I roll my head to the side so as to be able to at least catch a glimpse of whatever it is that is on my back, one of the wolves growl a little too close to my face for comfort. Paws hold me down, claws painfully digging into my back even through my clothing.

Breath hitching at the feeling of something warm ghosting over the back of my neck, my body lets out an involuntary shiver.

Soon after, following the warmth is a set of teeth that graze over my flesh, accompanied by what I presume to be drool.

The discomfort from being stuck in this position, coupled with the fact that there is drool currently running down my neck, isn't yet enough for me to yield. Smirking into the hardwood flooring, I slip one foot into the figurative grave. "I'd like to see YOU make breakfast when I'm the one bleeding to death all over my floor."

Another growl.

"Great; you know how to growl. What's next; begging?" _And there goes my other foot._

Okay; I know how much I'm pushing my luck right now, but rarely do I ever get to have this much fun. If I can only enjoy myself in the presence of animals that want me dead, then there must be something seriously wrong with me. _Sometimes I worry for my mental health…_

My response, one of which I did not expect, was for the sensitive skin of my neck to be nipped, resulting in me letting a rather girly squeal slip through my lips.

This must have somehow pleased the sadistic bastard, because the next thing I know, the weight on my back is removed, and two deep blue eyes are staring down triumphantly into my own discomforted grey pair. Arrogance was clear and easily identifiable in his features, and I had the unexpected urge to tackle the Alpha.

_At least I'm not dead…Yet…_

Scowling from this position would do no good, so I settle for smirking up at the now cautious wolf when a new idea made itself know to me. "Does Fido want a bowl of water with his Kibble? That's all you'll be getting at this rate."

Eyes narrowing, confusion settles into the Alpha-wolf's expression as it probably tries to make sense of what it was I'd said, which in turn just sends me off into yet another laughing fit of which the former is most certainly not pleased with, despite said fit being far more controlled than the previous one.

The fit soon ends with the interruption of my stomach informing me that it wanted to be twenty minutes ago. Honestly though, my stomach could put the sound of a whale's mating call to shame.

"I guess I'm a little hungry." I mumble meekly whilst scratching the back of my head from where I half sat on the floor, blushing at the wary stares given to my stomach. Did they think I was going to eat them or something?

**Yu Kanda**

After finally allowing the human to stand, which he'd only done after backing away from that horrendous sound, Kanda gave the human a look akin to a predator eyeing its prey, which, considering the situation, wasn't too far from the truth. At least that's how Kanda saw it. He shoved his urges to attack the human down and simply watched as the two-legged creature went about its business, humming as it did so.

A bowl was placed on the wooden table that smelled of pine, and the pack was given an apologetic smile. "Hold on a sec; I'll get you guys some of the meat left in the freezer; it just needs to be heated up."

Upon closer inspection, involving a chair to raise himself to the table's height, Kanda found that the contents of the bowl appeared to be some kind of noodle. Casting a quick glance in the human's direction, the Alpha stuck his nose into the bowl, sniffing at the food. Deciding that he liked its scent, he took a tentative bite, and, after realising that its taste far outweighed that of the meat he'd eaten earlier, he continued to eat the noodles till they were all gone.

When the human finally returned, a plate full of warm, yet still raw meat in its hand, its face fell at the sight of what the Alpha had done. "My Soba!" It cried, rushing over to the empty bowl and smug wolf.

Snatching up the bowl with its free hand, an expression somewhere between a glare and a pout made itself know on the human's face. "That was my last packet too…"

Seconds after placing both the bowl and plate down on the table, that weird rumbling sound from earlier returned, and the human flopped to the ground with a whine. "I'm so hungry!"

…

"So you seem to like Soba more than you did the meat," the human grudgingly began, glaring at its clenched hands from where it sat cross-legged on the floor a couple feet away from the wolves, "I take it that I should buy more, then?"

After not receiving an answer, not that it expected one in the first place; it stood, brushing of its trousers in the process. "I'll be back in an hour; someone," a dirty glance was shot at the Alpha, "ate the last pack of Soba. Besides; I hadn't really planned on providing for visitors."

Taking a small pouch from a counter, the human placed it in its pocket, and the wolves deduced that by the way something within the pouch jingled, it must contain some sort of metallic based content.

With a slight wave in the trio's direction, the human brushed past them, before quietly shutting the door behind itself.

Nudging the curtain to the side with her nose, Lenalee peeked out the window and watched as the human left in the giant THING. After roughly ten minutes had passed, the female Beta nodded. 'I don't think he'll be back for a while.'

'Finally.' The Alpha padded over towards the counters, all the while navy fur retreating and deadly claws retracting, soon replaced with tanned human skin and crescent-shaped human nails. On his left pectoral was a strange Japanese symbol that was surrounded by swirls that just barely stretched over to his back. Long navy tresses spilled over his shoulders and he flicked it out of his eyes, darkening with annoyance. "I need a fucking tie for this."

He turned to face his Betas, finding that both had followed his example and morphed into their other forms. What grabbed his attention, though, was a certain red-head hopping up and down in his place like a retarded rabbit. "YU-CHAN~! I NEED TO PEE!"

A tick developed on the Alpha's forehead. "Then hurry the fuck up, baka usagi. And don't call me that!"

"I'm a wolf, Yu-chan; not a rabbit!" Lavi whined as he ran past his Alpha and disappeared into the bathroom down the hall.

Lenalee crossed her arms in her place, olive-coloured hair now reaching down past her shoulder-blades, not bothering her in the least. "I think the human forgot that we need to go to the bathroom too."

Kanda rolled his eyes. "He thinks we're DOGS. Dogs go outside."

"Once upon a time, that would have been normal for us." The female Beta sighed.

The Alpha's eye twitched as Lenalee opened her mouth to speak, but clamped it shut barely a second later. "Just say whatever's on your mind."

Almost reluctantly, the girl took a deep breath. When she sighed, Kanda had the sudden urge to kick the rabbit. Why did females have to be so annoying?

"Speak." He growled, quickly growing impatient with Lenalee's hesitation. They were a pack; if she had something to say, she should just say it.

"Kanda," she kept her gaze firmly fixed to the ground, "are you… having fun… here?"

"No." Was his curt reply, no emotion present at all.

Lips pressing into a thin line, the Beta found herself unable to believe the one who she knew she should never doubt. "Then what exactly happened before?"

Gritting his teeth, Kanda glared down at the girl, causing her to back away a few steps in fear that she'd incurred her Alpha's wrath. "It was… interesting," discontent with his word choice showed through in his tone, "trying to make that human submit. A challenge."

It was then that Lavi popped his head out from the bathroom doorway, effectively interrupting the awkward conversation. "All done~! Your turn, Lena!"

Secretly thankful for the other's usually dreadful timing, the dark-eyed man raised an eyebrow. "Did you wash your hands?"

With a guilty expression on his face, Lavi's head disappeared, and the faint sound of running water could be heard in one listened hard enough. Or if they weren't entirely human.

()()()

Surprise…?

And there we go! So, what did ya think? This is all going on in my mind, so while it may be awesome to me, it could also be…. Not as pleasant for someone else….

Are the relationships good?

()()()

Previous Chapter – **Dinner and a Show**

Next Chapter – **School and Scents **


	5. Chapter 4 - School And Scents

**Chapter 4 – School and Scents**

()()()

**Allen Walker**

It was technically the third day of the wolves living here, and I can honestly say that our relationship hadn't improved. They acted like… well… wolves: growling, stealing food, sometimes even glaring. The navy-coloured wolf, specifically, was a prick. I swore that it must have gotten some kind of kick out of doing everything it could to mess with my head; its favourite game so far being to steal my pencil case whenever I sat down to complete my homework. _Not fun._

By the time I came out of my room, all I had time to do was make myself a sandwich and plate up their meat before I had to leave; a quick check of my watch telling me that if I didn't do so soon, I'd most definitely be late. Late was not good; late lead to cranky teachers; cranky teachers lead to detention and crappy grades.

School. I really do loathe that place. At one point, the teasing and bullying had gotten so brutal that I'd been admitted into the hospital, but now, everyone simply ignored me. I'd long-since earned the title of being a pushover by never once fighting back nor refusing to do anything I'd been told. Not that many really talked to me; no one wanted to be known as the one who'd associated themselves with the 'white-haired freak'.

I tighten the bandaged around my wrist, hoping they wouldn't show. Because being seen covered in bandages would improve my reputation. I could image the gossip already. 'He was probably in a gang fight', or 'I bet he beat up some poor kid and got caught by the cops', or maybe even 'he did it to himself'. Rumours these days tented to spread like fire.

The dressings were messy, obvious to any who cared that I hadn't put half of the effort in that I'd done for the wolves' bandages. After washing and bandaging the wound, that was that. Sure, it was painful, but I couldn't even remember the last time I'd cared about myself. To me, something like that was almost a foreign concept. My own priorities lied in getting myself through each day, not living comfortably.

Hovering uncertainly by the couch on my way out, I briefly wondered if I was crazy for considering the wolves to be people. _Probably._

In these few days of living together, I'd managed to notice a couple things I hadn't before. One thing being that the one who I presumed to be the Alpha wasn't entirely navy in colouring; a faint black patch blending almost seamlessly into the surrounding fur. If one wasn't looking close enough, they would never notice it, much like how I hadn't until just recently. Its tail also tended to droop, and its ears were always up and twitching, a clear sign that it was always on alert for danger. Then there was the red wolf: its fur was a little on the poofy side, whereas the green one's coat was sleek, yet somehow appeared to be the softer of the two. The red one also seemed to be a never-ending supply of energy, always chasing his tail or play-fighting with one of the others.

Shaking my head, a relaxed smile made itself know on my face. Living with these three really did make living at least a little enjoyable.

Pressing the 'ON' button of the remote causes the TV screen to light up, playing reruns of Supernatural. "This is called a 'Television'; we call it 'TV' for short, though." I explain, pointing at the black rectangular object on the wall. _Definitely crazy._

Noting their interest had been piqued, I flip the channel to Animal Planet, not really wanting them to watch something that involved human killing another living being. Something like _that _wouldn't do any wonders in working to improve our shaky relationships. "I've got to go to school; don't expect me back for a while"

After school, I had work. It wouldn't be a full shift, seeing as I only had to fill in for one of the guys who had to go early for his niece's birthday party. Why that man worked in a bar, I had no idea.

To be honest, I rather liked the place. Then again, bars are pretty much the only place I didn't mind working at. When people get drunk, they tell you exactly what it is they truly think. I've always hated liars with a passion, so I guess that's why I'm able put up with Cross to an extent; despite being a bastard, he tells me what he thinks straight to my face.

**Yu Kanda**

Lavi may or may not have found himself semi-addicted to the big-screen-thing known as 'TV'.

It had been interesting for them to figure out that if they turned into their human forms, they were then able to operate the smaller black object that could then allow them to control what they watched. Currently, they were in the midst of watching something titled 'Sex in the City'. It had been very informative, to say the least.

They were all curled up together on the couch, a mass of blues and greens and reds with scents mingling in a comforting sort of way.

And then the human just had to push open the door as the scene had gotten rather interesting. It yawned, muttering an almost inaudible 'I'm back' before trudging past the couch.

The wolves stiffened as it went past, growling at the scent that lingered on its clothes and invaded their nostrils. That disgustingly sharp scent that smelled vaguely of a liquid they remembered from their days in captivity

Of course, their actions had captured the human's attention, which dropped its bag and gawked at the sight of Sarah Jessica Parker and Christopher Noth doing a little more than snogging on the Television. Its face flushed a deep red as it rushed over to the remote, quickly pressing the large red button and turning the screen black. "You shouldn't be watching things like that!"

The trio slowly relaxed, noting that the human still acted the same as it had before, despite its sudden scent change. Then they cocked their heads at its antics.

It stared at them a moment longer, before sighing, rubbing its temples between a gloved thumb and forefinger. "I don't even know why I bother…"

Removing its hand from its face, the human crouched down a couple metres away from the pack, pointing to the window. "It's still light out; do you want to go out?"

…

It had taken a while, but the trio were slowly realising that the disgusted glances were, in fact, not being shot at them, but at the seemingly oblivious human beside them.

They'd decided to walk a little closer to the white-haired human after figuring that out.

That is, until it lead them to a park, one that was thankfully devoid of humans.

It had been nice to be outside once again, but somehow discomforting. Chalking it up to the fact that they were in human territory, the wolves dismissed the thought.

Their human had chosen to sit on a bench, so lost in thought that it didn't even notice Kanda watching it the entire time. "Everyone was staring at me again today," it muttered to itself, inadvertently capturing the trio's attention as it stared up at the sun, which was just peeking out in from behind the clouds far off in the distance, casting a beautiful spell of pinks and oranges to stain the evening sky. The moon, too, hung in the sky; a cream-coloured orb somewhat obscured by the light of day.

It suddenly snapped out of its trance, taking note of the canines beside it. The human sighed at their curious gazes, scratching the back of its head. "It's because I'm a freak," it stated impassively, like it didn't care one bit about what it had just claimed.

Turning its attention back to the world around it, the human stayed that way, with only three wolves for company, 'til the sun dipped down into the horizon and never returned, the light retreating with it.

Now surrounded by darkness, the human stood, brushing itself free of any dirt it may have accumulated while being there. "Let's go back now."

…

It had been their mistake to follow the human into the tiled room after it had motioned for them to follow it in, but in the end, it was the human who'd been traumatised the most by the entire ordeal.

After the door locking the moment they had all entered, all three of them had tensed, thinking they were ready for anything.

Mistrust had soon turned back to confusion when the human turned the bath tub's tap and plugged it. Rubbing it hands together, a look of excitement had lit up the human's face as it had turned back to face the wolves. It had been the words 'bath time!' that had truly turned their blood cold.

Lavi's single eye had widened, and he'd taken a step away from the human, accompanied by a whine of 'oh god'.

A gloved hand had reached out towards Kanda when the Alpha had dodged the outstretched hand and nudged the human, causing said two-legged creature to ungracefully fall backwards, landing with an undignified yelp and a splash in the water, where practically half of it had drenched the trio.

To say that Kanda was irritated would have been an understatement.

When the human had tried to climb out the tub, it had found two paws pressing down on its shoulders, where it had glimpsed two deep blue eyes gleaming with a sadistic light, before being shoved back down into the water.

To the satisfaction of the Alpha, the human had soon after flopped to the ground in a panting mess, dripping with water, a puddle forming around its shivering form.

And then, as it had tried to stand, its foot slid out from under it and caused it to all but face-plant into the ground.

They had won, and, hopefully, the human would think twice about them bathing.

…

Lenalee sat at the human's side, before taking hold of the sheet and pulling it up so that it covered its chest.

"Mana…" It whispered, rolling on to its side, the sheet enveloping it like a cocoon.

With a smile on his face, Lavi watched as the green-haired female ran a hand through the youth's snowy locks, marvelling at how childish and harmless their saviour appeared at that very moment. Neither could believe that this was the same person who'd rescued them from their hunger and bandaged their wounds. It was somewhat surreal; the flow at which everything around them had progressed. They'd gone from cold and starving to content in less than a day, despite being surrounded by those they so hated on all sides.

Then again; this was also the person who'd tried to force them into bathing.

"Lenalee." Came Kanda's warning, startling the two Betas, who hadn't even realised that their Alpha had been there to see their actions.

Nodding, the woman stood, all three soon leaving the room, the wooden door shutting with a quiet 'click' behind them.

()()()

I would just like to say that the themes of this story are going to turn really dark for… well… till the end. Maybe not NEXT chapter, but soon.

Had to sit myself down and force me to write this.

Would also like to say that I was semi-sleep-deprived while writing some of this and laughed at things that were probably not funny.

()()()

Previous Chapter – **Not So Submissive**

Next Chapter – **Only Human **


	6. Chapter 5 - Only Human

**Chapter 5 – Only Human**

()()()

**Yu Kanda**

Once again, the human had left quite early in the day, returning sometime later completely exhausted, falling to the wooden floor with a groan.

Scenes like this had become quite the common occurrence in the wolves' lives. Leave early; slump to the floor in exhaustion. Again, and again, and again. The monotony of it all was rather odd, yet somehow calming to the trio.

Before, it was all tests and pain, but now, it was sleep and teasing.

That being said, none had forgotten the original goal; they couldn't just go and leave their pack to rot in that hellhole. They would begin once their wounds had healed.

For now, their main goal was their own recovery.

So there they were, watching the human prepare something on the thing it had called a 'stove', when Kanda's ears perked up as he recognised the scent emanating from the former's direction. The Alpha watched as the human transferred its dinner from the pot to a bowl, concentration solely on its task. However, the second it turned, it froze, eyes on the wolf by its feet.

Holding the soba just out of his reach, the white-haired youth glared down at the four-legged creature with disapproval. "It's mine."

Kanda ignored those words, instead choosing to tug the human by the left leg of its trousers with his teeth.

"Sit! Down boy!" The human commanded, trying to shake the wolf off without dropping the bowl, only to realise that resistance was quite literally futile. "Urg! Fine!" It cried, huffing as it dropped the floor, bowl still in hand. "But next time I make Soba, it's mine!"

The Alpha dived forwards before the human could change its mind, bumping heads with said human in the process. In his haste, Kanda accidentally knocked the bowl from the other's gloved hands, strings of buckwheat noodles spilling all over the human's lap, much to its obvious annoyance. That didn't seem to deter the wolf, though, as it continued on with its meal, making sure not to leave a single strand behind.

Meanwhile, the human simply lied there after being knocked down in the wolf's search for food, wincing at the feeling of claws digging into it through the fabric of its shirt. There wasn't all that much he could do in a situation like this. Well, not without angering the Alpha. A sigh left its lips as it waited, eyes on the peeling paint of the roof.

When Kanda noticed what he had done, he stared down into the boy's eyes, noting the overall lacking of fear, or much of anything, in those silvery orbs, before retreating to what he deemed a safer distance.

After eventually getting around to siting, the human pushed itself up off the floor to stand. "I guess I'll just have to make something else," it sighed, tone conveying that it honestly couldn't have cared less, despite being so adamant about its food beforehand.

Kanda continued to observe the human with narrowed eyes, curious as its sudden mood change. The words 'humans' and 'mood change' in the same sentence never brought the most pleasant of memories to his mind.

So he watched.

Going about its business as usual, the human's gloved hands moved to pour the contents of a blue carton into a metal bowl.

And then the phone rang.

The human flinched, cursing as it dropped the carton and some kind of white liquid went everywhere.

Kanda's ears twitched, as did the rest of the pack's, at the ringing sound. They really did hate that stupid device. Why did it have to be so damn loud?

The human quickly worked to clean up the mess with the help of a rectangular piece of fabric found on a hook, cussing the entire time and inadvertently dirtying its gloves. Sighing in irritation, it ripped off the gloves without a second thought, throwing them at the sink and cradling its head in its hands. "God dammit!" Now un-gloved hands tugged at a head of white hair, followed up by a groan.

Turning and releasing its head, the human made to leave the room when its hip hit the dining table on the way past. "Shit!"

The wolves were surprise, to say the least. This was the first time they'd seen the boy so… emotional, if that was even the right word.

Its hate-filled gaze turning towards the wooden inanimate object, the human snapped right in front of their eyes. They watched wide-eyed as its foot made contact with the table leg and the table collapsed from the blow, something that only seemed to aggravate the human all the more.

This was new.

Lenalee whined, fearfully backing away from the large crashing sound and angry human, her ears flat against her skull and tail tucked between her legs.

Stopping at that sound, the human bit its lower lip, shooting Lenalee an apologetic glance, before looking at both of the other wolves in distress. "I-I didn't mean to-"

Kanda growled, standing in front of Lenalee protectively, front legs slightly bent at the joints, ears pulled back and tail stiffly curved, staring up at the human with a threatening glare. He couldn't forgive ANYONE for having scared one of his pack mates.

Kneeling down roughly five metres away, the human lowered its guilted eyes in a submissive manner, slowly reaching out with its left hand, trying not to startle the wolves with any quick movements.

All three took a step back, six eyes focussed solely on the human's hand, which still had yet to be re-gloved. It was red and veiny, like it had been dipped in blood and left to dry in the sun, appearing cracked in seemingly random places.

When the human had realised what it had done, it quickly withdrew its hand, looking troubled as it cradled its hand close. "M'sorry," it murmured, retreating back a few paces, yet still kneeling.

Kanda, who was then over his initial shock, moved in closer to get a better look at the peculiar appendage, more curious than anything else, though still on guard in case the human got violent again.

"W-what are you doing?!"

The human stumbled back, falling on its backside, fingers of its right hand cutting themselves on part of the table leg's splintered remains.

The human gasped, accidentally whimpering when it pulled a bloodied piece of wood from his finger with a wince.

That pitiable sound had the wolves on edge, Kanda reacting instantaneously, beside the human in mere moments. Trying to press his wet nose into the human's neck in what should have been a comforting manner failed to yield the desired result as it tensed, quickly shoving the wolf to the side and clambered to its feet in some kind of desperate attempt to put as much space between the two of them as possible, panic clear in its eyes.

With an annoyed growl, the Alpha sauntered over towards the human, his ears now erect and hackles slightly bristling. His penetrating stare had the other backing away 'till its back hit the wall, practically cowering by then.

"P-please… stop…" Its breathing sped up, coming out in shortened bursts like it was in the middle of some sort of panic attack.

The Alpha was clearly showing that he was the dominant one here and it was absolutely terrifying. Lenalee and Lavi shot a glance at each other; they both knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of that look, but something like THIS had never happened before. The human appeared to be having trouble with breathing, legs giving out and sliding to the ground, shoulders shaking.

Backing off a few steps, Kanda studied the other, taking note on how mismatched hands tried to grasp at the wooden flooring, but came up empty, and left bloody. He wondered if the human didn't even care about the injury. It was a possibility, seeing as it hadn't really bothered to fix up its last one, barely doing a passible job of cleaning the thing and bandaging it when Kanda knew it could have done better.

By now, it half lay propped up with its back against the wall, and, thankfully, had gradually stopped with the whole fast-paced-breathing thing long enough for it to at least somewhat calm down.

Trembling words shattered the silence that had grown around them, barely above a whisper. "You're right to be distrustful of me, you know? We humans are utterly disgusting; only ever doing things for ourselves and using whoever we can to move up in the world. It's such an ugly way of living."

Kanda cocked his head to the side, unsure as to where this one-sided conversation was going.

The human wrapped its arms around its legs, knees firmly pulled against its chest. "I'm like that too… I'm only using you," it admitted, looking away miserably.

The wolves' fur bristles, betas taking a step back from their Alpha, whom had the scent of fury and betrayal rolling off him in waves. This wasn't good. Angry Alpha was bad. Angry Alpha was scary. They lowered both their heads and hindquarters, slowly scooting over to the far side of the room.

"I thought… maybe… if I could at least do somethin' good with my life, it would make up for what happened, but that's… kinda stupid, don'cha think?" It chuckled wryly, looking as if it brought physical pain to say such a thing. "Word got around 'bout what I did, and everything's gone ta hell." Cradling its left arm to its chest, the human looked down at it with such animosity that it even scared the wolves for a second. "I'm absolutely repulsive."

Kanda growled, eyes having long since narrowed to mere slits. This human… to the Alpha, it was like watching a second Alma… The happiest of individuals on the outside…having everything taken by humans… This was a sad, depressed Alma, without even a pack to turn to... An ALIVE Alma

Dismissing past thoughts and worries, Kanda moved closer, choosing to lick at the disfigurement as an alternate method to calm the other, much to the surprise of his two pack mates, who'd thought for sure they'd have a bloodbath on their paws.

The human's breath hitched, watery silver eyes widening. When it all of a sudden threw itself at the navy four-legged creature, said wolf stiffened upon initial contact, but eventually relaxed as the tremors of the white-haired human travelled through its body to his own, and a pair of arms timidly wrapped around him as the other sobbed.

After what seemed like half-an-hour, the human's breathing eventually evened out, and Kanda had to work to disentangle himself from the former's hold. He saw the tear tracks that ran down from closed eyes, sighing in resignation.

'Lavi, Lenalee… I've been thinking…' Kanda trailed off, gaze never leaving the sleeping human boy.

The beta's heads shot up. Rarely did their Alpha ever have moments of uncertainty; he always, ALWAYS knew what to do. It came with the job title, after all.

'This human... I want him as part of the pack. Seeing as he's human, I can't make this decision without the agreement of my betas.' His tone was firming along with his resolve, the uncertainty that had been there before leaving him.

The two of them understood the implication behind those words. Neither could remember the last time he'd asked something so serious of them. Kanda was the Alpha. Kanda didn't need help with making decisions for the pack. Whatever he did was for the benefit of them all.

Lavi padded over, nuzzling in close to the human's side. "I don't really mind. He seems like a good kid."

Lenalee bobbed her head, eyeing the dining room table. "I think it would be good for all of us, especially him."

Nodding, Kanda glanced between the three of them. He honestly hadn't expected this to happen; to think that they'd get this involved with a HUMAN, out of all possible species. Then again, it- _HE _wasn't exactly a normal human, now was he?

…

A loud banging on the door woke the three wolves up immediately, and Kanda saw the huma- brat stir.

The boy raised his head rather groggily, rubbing away at the sleep in his eyes with the back of his left hand. He looked as if he was confused to find himself on the floor, but soon forgot about whatever he'd been thinking when the pounding on the door grew louder and more insistent.

"Gimme a sec!" He shouted, using the wall to push himself up from the floor, running to the kitchen tap to wash away the blood still on his hand with a hiss.

He made to slip on his gloves when the human on the other side of the door growled out something that sounded a lot like 'Hurry up, stupid apprentice'.

When the boy heard that, he dropped the gloves, expression morphing into a scowl. He marched right on over to the door and threw it open. "Oh, it's just you."

A red-haired human with some kind of bone-like structure sitting on its face pushed past the younger, reeking of a sharp, foul odour that put the wolves on edge. "Cheeky brat."

The youth ran a hand through his white hair. "What is it you want now?"

The bigger human advanced towards the boy, and Kanda had the urge to rip it apart when he saw the latter look down. He couldn't quite place it, but simply seeing those signs of submission given by what he saw as HIS human to another infuriated him to no end.

"The hell happened here?" The red-headed human muttered, eyes of the same colour on the broken table.

"Just… an accident…" The boy lied, hands clenched.

And then those red eyes landed on the three in the corner. "So it's wolves this time?"

"They were injured-"

"And you took it upon yourself to be the idiot to save them," the older male finished. When no denial was given, the human scoffed. "Well, what are their names?"

That seemed to shock the boy. "I can't name them; what if they already have names? Besides, you know what's happens when I try to name things…"

Something in what the younger said had the other smirking. "Like the stupid name you gave that bird?"

"Timcanpy is an amazing name," he muttered.

The elder rolled his eyes. "Let me guess; you're gonna cry when you're left all alone again."

Those words had pale cheeks dyed red, and the boy stomped over to a cupboard, pulled out a bottle and shoved it into the older human's waiting hands, before shoving it out the door and slamming the door shut. "Shuv orf, jackarse!"

"Don't you go getting all British with me, brat!" Came the muffled reply from the other side of the door.

While he was pleased to have the intruder gone, Kanda was now officially in a bad mood.

He glared over at the white-haired human.

Now that he thought about it, he couldn't exactly keep thinking of the other as 'the white-haired human' or 'brat'… a name was needed… especially considering the fact that the dope hadn't even told them what it was.

He eyed some of the ingredients that had been left out on the bench, grinning, alarming his betas in the process.

He'd seen something he'd vaguely recognised.

It was perfect.

Small and white.

Moyashi.

…

"I don't know if this is a good idea…" Lavi trailed off, standing in nothing but his bandages as he tried to push his fringe out of his eye with his left hand, the other on his hip.

"We should at least TRY," Lenalee murmured, keeping her voice low so as to not wake the human.

An action that they soon found to be futile as one tired human opened the door to his bedroom with a yawn, very nearly walking into the three frozen, and very naked, wolves-turned-humans.

He blinked, taken aback. Squinting a little, the boy tilted his head to the side. He took a step back, frowning.

Lavi moved forward. "Hey little bu-"

And the door was slammed shut in his face.

Kanda cursed under his breath while Lenalee just sighed.

Meanwhile, the red-head was barely attempting to supress his laughter, but the grin on his lips betrayed his true thoughts. "Knew it wouldn't end well."

Kanda elbowed the other male in the ribs. "This isn't a laughing matter," he hissed.

"It's fine, didn't you see his face? He'll probably think it was some kind of weird dream."

That was true. The Moyashi had been having odd dreams lately. Something was most definitely wrong with the boy.

"We still need to tell him, you idiot," Kanda shot back.

Lavi just shrugged. "Shouldn't we wait a little longer? I mean, we haven't been here all that long. Yu-chan, he still needs a little time to adjust to our presence."

The Alpha wanted to argue back, but he knew how much of a delicate matter the situation was as a whole. They couldn't afford for anything to go wrong. They couldn't afford many more setbacks.

"Fine," he begrudgingly agreed. "One week."

"One week it is~" Lavi grinned. Oh the fun he could have in one week.

()()()

I got a cold and decided to write this chapter! Yay! Now I shall curl up in the foetal position and hope for death.

Allen got upgraded to 'he'! (he's also having some issues that I will most definitely be explaining in later chapters)

And kandaXalma is not a ship I support so there was no romance between the two of them present in this story, before OR after Alma's demise

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Previous Chapter – **School And Scents**

Next Chapter – **Saviour In The Shadows**


	7. Chapter 6 - Saviour In The Shadows

**Chapter 6 – Saviour In The Shadows**

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**Allen Walker**

This morning, I awoke to the discomforting feeling of something heavy pressing on my stomach. Again.

I shook my head at seeing that my three guests had somehow, once again, found their way into my bed. They'd been doing it since the day I'd freaked out and had that weird nightmare involving naked people. This, of course, was one of the major changes to me in their attitudes. Though, how they got in here was still unknown to me, considering the fact that I shut my door and they don't have hands.

I still couldn't believe that I'd actually broken down in front of them. To have anyone, even an animal, see me like that… it was embarrassing. They must have been terrified… I felt terrible for putting them through that.

Also, lately I've had this weird feeling I'm being watched. Then again, when am I not being watched? The second I step out of the house, it like everyone just turns and stares at me and won't look away 'til I disappear from there sight. I'm honest to god sick of it already.

Ever-so-slowly, I manage to make it all the way to the foot of my bed, only to be stopped when I'm dragged back by an irritated navy-coloured wolf. "Eh? W-wait!"

I land a foot away from my pillow, and the wolf goes back to resting on my stomach, not caring that I actually have things to do today.

My mouth twitches. "C'mon! I have ta go grocery shoppin' again!" Around these guys, at least, I can let my accent slip. Still doesn't make it any less embarrassing.

When he doesn't get off, I try and slip out from under him, only to be met with two pissed cerulean orbs.

_Oh for the love of-_

The wolf growls, moving so as to put all of his weight on me by sitting purposely on my stomach, the look on his face clearly saying 'what now, dipshit'?

_I'm being bullied by a poodle._

Something cold brushed my cheek, and when I crane my neck to get a better look at what it was, a wet nose hits me in the centre of my forehead. An emerald eye blinks, and then my face is unexpectedly slick with wolf slobber.

"Wha?"

A warm tongue licks up the side of my face. Everywhere. Repeatedly.

Then the green wolf just has to go and join in. "S-st-AH!" And one of the bastards decided that licking my ear was a grand idea.

I couldn't even breath with how hard I was laughing, clutching my stomach, which the darker male wolf had vacated some time earlier. I roll in an attempt to hide so they can no longer reach my face, only they one-up me by starting on my exposed neck. Rolling again doesn't seem to work, especially when the mattress disappeared out from under me and, as per the laws of gravity, fall. "Ow…"

Just lying here seemed like a pretty good idea right about now…

Unfortunately, I really did have things to do today. Groaning, I get up. First things first; I really do have to wash my face.

…

"I'll be back soon!"

The second I stepped outside, I shivered. The weather had become quite cold recently, especially with winter just around the corner. Or had it already arrived?

Rubbing my hands together, I hurriedly shut the door behind myself, not bothering to lock the door. Why would I? Rumours had already spread about 'the demon boy raising wolves', so it was doubtful that anyone would even think of going near my house. No that they did before.

I jogged down the street in an effort to warm myself up, appreciating the serenity of quiet mornings like these. Since it was still pretty early, not that many people were out yet.

There weren't that many shops near here; it was all mainly houses, meaning it took me about twenty minutes to get to the nearest grocers. There were only a few people milling about, a couple stopping to stare as I went past, all of whom I pointedly ignored.

I moved to the short three-person line for the ATM. While I wouldn't normally stop here, I'd remembered that I had to stock back up on medical supplies. Caring for two injured wolves was a hassle in itself, not to mention how many rolls of bandages and tubes of antiseptics they ran through.

Waiting patiently for the woman in front of me to finish, I yawn, trying to stifle the sound with a gloved hand. It really was early. _Maybe I should have put this off 'til later…I haven't even eaten yet…_

My thoughts were rudely interrupted the second I felt myself being pushed to the side, and I fell painfully onto my backside on the pavement. Wincing, I frowned up at whoever had pushed me. "Hey!"

I paled at the sight of how big the guy was, internally freaking out as a glare made itself know on his face. "Piss off."

Mouth dry, I slowly nodded, sensing the familiar feeling of fear and adrenaline coursing their way through my body. _W-what?_

"Hurry up and withdraw the fucking money already, bitch," the man practically growled at the lady still in front of me.

From where I sat, I glimpsed something in his hand that glinted in the faint morning light.

_Is that a… knife?_

The woman must have seen it, too, as she hurriedly punched in her pin numbers, choking back her tears when the machine informed her of an error she'd made in her haste.

"I said hurry the fuck up!"

Someone screamed as the man as the man grabbed me and pulled me up by the hair, the bite of metal meeting skin felt on the pale column of my neck, the few people that were here backing away.

_Why…_

Screaming: that day, too, had people screaming.

Deep within me, I could feel my blood beginning to boil, and with it, my mind went blank.

My heart hammered loud against my chest, beating like a hummingbird's, blood racing through me and growing hotter with every passing second, so hot that it hurt.

_It's… pulsing_

Eyes wide, far from okay, I relax, face slackening.

_Faster._

The hand in my hair suddenly released me, like its owner had realised that someone wasn't quite right with his captive. Now back on the ground, my hazed eyes meet his so as to confirm any suspicions he may have had. He jumps back when my hand clumsily reaches out for the knife without any thought on my part, and, almost as if I'm in a trance, I stand.

"Wt th' f'k y'din"

Sounds around me became muffled, in a way that would have me believe I were underwater, if only I didn't know better.

_It feels…_

A slight eerie grin pulled at my lips.

…_good…_

Giving in to my urges to move closer to the perturbed man before me, reds of many shades bleed into my vision, staining everything 'til it's all I see.

It was astounding. I could FEEL everything: my body quaking with SOMETHING, the trembling of the poor woman now trying to select all the money she could to withdraw, the eyes of the crowd, now locked on to my movements.

But I could no longer SEE.

Any words that were spoken to me were garbled.

Sight. Hearing. Smell.

That veil of the deepest reds obscured it all.

And then I felt it, hiding far away at the back of my head, quite happily using this rare opportunity to make itself known: the rage.

_Hate._

It felt incredible; letting that raw, _pure _emotion take hold of me for the first time in years.

_Hate._

I would never be able to describe exactly how it felt to have the very essence of malice itself brewing in my chest. No words, however ordered or placed, would ever do the feeling justice.

_I HATE IT._

An indescribable high involving a numbness that throughout my entire body, consuming all in its wake, trampled on what little rationality I had left. It could have been likened to that of a wildfire; only what was left behind here was neither sorrow nor grief, no; this was the epitome of ultimate bliss.

Nothing. To feel absolutely nothing after all this time, after a lifetime's worth of pain; now that was what I had always longed for, what I had always so desperately craved right down to the depths of my filthy damaged core.

All I'd wanted was to sleep forever away; was that really so bad?

Weightless… that was it. Just floating here inside the festering pits of my own mind, not having to bother with unnecessary things like what was proper, or having to try my hardest to please those around me. The burden of these things having been removed from my shoulders was absolutely heavenly.

All I had to do was exist, not seeing nor smelling nor tasting nor feeling, left alone in this paradise with all the time in the world to think.

This opiate-like nothingness that encased and smothered my very being; what was its price? Everything came with a price; I was nowhere near naïve enough to believe otherwise. What was it that I had to pay to continue on like this, to stay locked away and hidden in the darkness for eternity?

No… the real question here is '_what do I have left to give?_'

Those I loved?

_Long since dead_.

My body?

_Who could want such a retched thing?_

My mind?

_Even more broken than my body_.

Then…

_My… humanity?_

In a single moment, with that one thought, reality came crashing down around me like a tidal wave. It dragged me from the darkness, barely giving me time to think, before tossing me back into the cruel world I so hated with a passion.

With its endless midnight blue skies, set alight with shining orbs of yellows that went off into forever.

_This heavy and oppressing world._

Its wide expanse of seemingly bottomless oceans, glittering under the light of the moon, a mixture of blues and greens, so beautiful that it filled one with such melancholy.

_The world that stole from me what little happiness I fought tooth-and-nail for._

Fields of flowers, colours and scents overpowering to the senses.

_This world that made it so hard to breath._

And last but not least, these people, those of whom I now stood before, baring my true self for all to see. They all stood witness to the monster that they'd forced me to become.

_They're all standing witness to the broken doll that was once Allen Red Walker._

Something cold flushed itself through my veins, allowing me to see what it was my body had done as I'd floated in the darkness.

_Two gloved hands wrapped around a thick throat, choking their victim of air._

_The trembling form of the one now below me._

_Bruises forming beneath unforgiving fingers._

_The horrified gazes of the few still here._

My body only grew rigid as the last realisation processed in my mind.

Taking a deep breath, I force my hands to relax, preparing to run and salvage what left of myself there still is, when something hard slammed into the back of my head, knocking me from my perch on the man's chest.

Something akin to black splotches of ink stain my vision, a ringing sound loud in my ear.

Another, dressed similarly to the first many, although a little thinner, stood above me, a thick pipe in hand.

_A… partner?_

A steel-toed boot struck my stomach.

I groan in pain, curling into the foetal position when the foot connects with my side, wincing at the unnatural sound of something cracking.

The thick-soled boot stomps down on my now limp wrist, but I, clamped down on the screams that threatened to tear themselves free, barely having the strength to scream for all that long, and also knowing that doing such a thing would only make things worse.

_This one… had a partner._

As the spots of black expand, a pair of azure eyes lock on to my own.

Ruefully, I turn my gaze to the ground just in time for the boot to strike me in the back.

Letting a slight smile, this one free from any derangement that had been so painfully obvious in the other, I let the pits of darkness that are my own mind claim me and whisk me away to somewhere far more bearable than this hellhole I'm forced to call reality.

I really do hate humanity.

Why do they have to be so rude and annoying and cruel?

Why do they ruin all they touch?

Why do they act like they are the centre of the universe and think that everything simply MUST revolve around them?

I know enough about them all to make me sick, having suffered greatly by their greed and desires to understand that I belong far, _far_ away from them.

I know this, so…

Why do I find them so… captivating?

I just don't understand.

_Why do I hate them?_

**Yu Kanda**

After the little episode two days ago, Kanda and his betas had taken to following the boy to wherever he went. It didn't matter if he was human; the white-haired youth obviously had problems with his own kind.

It showed in the way he acted. In the way he _spoke._ He was scared.

And so, the very first day had gone without a hitch. The boy had disappeared into the large white building it had dubbed 'school', before returning hours later. He hadn't even noticed their presence. They'd have to work on that at some point. It wouldn't do him any good to be defenceless in a pack full of wolves.

Sleeping with him had actually been quite comfortable. He would sprawl out and they would just rest their heads on his stomach or any other stay body part he didn't keep tucked in close to himself. Kanda's personal favourite was when he could lay his head on the boy's chest and un-gloved fingers would subconsciously intertwine with his fur, sometimes even stroking it on occasion.

Now was most definitely NOT the time to be thinking of such things.

Kanda stood and watched as the boy's pupils dilated, that face, normally so full of expression, now devoid of any and all emotion, except for that grin.

He stood and watched as the boy tried to kill another human.

He stood there and watched as his human became something else.

Beside him, Lenalee and Lavi moved in closer to their alpha's side, seeking his silent comfort as they watched their human pack-mate's mouth twist into an even more unnerving leer.

And then, without any warning, their human was back.

Grey eyes blinked once. Gloved hands shook.

He looked like he wanted to cry.

Then he was on the ground, another human over him.

The Alpha tensed as their eyes met, lost when the other averted his. Confused. _Why did he do that?_

Seeing that smile tug at the boy's lips, eyes so full of familiar hopelessness, snapped Kanda out of the spell.

His body moved before he, himself, could give it the order to do so, snarling out a quick 'stay' to his betas.

He tackled the standing human to the ground, jaws latching on to its arm before anyone could even register what was going on.

The pathetic screams he received for his troubles did nothing to satiate the absolute fury and loathing he felt towards this human. How DARE it do this?! Kanda wanted to render this human to shreds, put it back together, and then repeat the process.

Unfortunately for him, the time it would have taken to accomplish such an act was a luxury he didn't have.

So, instead of doing as he wished, the Alpha dragged the human far from his human, then went to stand protectively in front of the unconscious boy on the cement.

Taking that as their signal to move, the betas joined their Alpha, butting the boy with their heads in a vain attempt to wake him.

The annoying sound that filled the air had tem on edge. Well, more so than they already were. Being around this many humans, even if it was only five or six, was still nerve wracking, to say the least.

That annoying sound turned out to belong to some strange THING similar to their human's THING, only this one was white and shaped a little differently, also with odd flashing lights of red and blue on top.

What came from the THING, though, had the wolves on defence.

_Humans in white._

_A sharp smell that invaded their senses._

The first two humans in white seemed shocked, and maybe a little frightened, to see them. Kanda deduced that they weren't of any close relation to the humans in white who'd held them captive.

While those humans worried over the presence of the wolves, the wolves' was on how to help their human. Things weren't looking good for them. They didn't pay any real attention to the other humans, only doing so if one got too close.

What eventually drew Kanda's attention, was the arrival of another white THING, only this one had a messy blonde-haired human practically fall out, an incredulous expression on its face. "What the hell is going on?!"

()()()

So… Allen is a little… Okay, even I can't explain this without giving away stuff from later chapters so I'll just leave it as 'he has problems'

But look how overprotective Kanda is!

And I wrote this on Halloween while severely sleep-deprived, VERY hungry and hyped up on candy. Please tell me if I've done something wrong and I'm actually not that sorry at all for being a jerk to Allen. Okay, maybe I'm a LITTLE sorry…

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Previous Chapter – **Only Human**

Next Chapter – **Trust Issues**


	8. Chapter 7 - Trust Issues

**Chapter 7 – Trust Issues**

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**Yu Kanda**

Seven minutes. After _seven fucking minutes_, those _idiotic _humans were _still _arguing about what to do. Why couldn't they just _leave?_

One of the wimpier-looking ones kept pointing at the trio, freaking out and screaming for the blond human -who's name they'd heard was 'Bak'- to figure out what to do.

It seemed that the humans' main goal was to get to the unconscious white-haired youth on the cement behind the wolves.

The three had no plans to give him up. Not a chance in hell.

"Calm down," the Bak-human said to the others, denim-coloured eyes flickering from wolf to wolf, then back to the Moyashi.

Contrary to what the blond had asked of them said, the other humans only became all the more riled, putting the wolves even more on edge than before.

Seeing this, the Bak-human sighed. Staring straight in to the Alpha's eyes, it took a few steps forward. "We need to get him healed."

Another yanked it back, once again pointing at the trio. "Don't try to reason with them, shoot 'em. They're just animals!"

Kanda snarled, fangs clearly displayed in a threatening manner for all to see. He never did take well to having his pack mates insulted, especially by humans.

"Stop!" The blond human had its hands raised, trying in vain to calm both sides. "We don't have time for this! What we need to do is make sure the kid doesn't have a concussion." It appeared to think for a second. "And someone should quickly drive the other one back."

"We can't do that with those _things _here!" Someone hissed from the small group of white-coat humans.

Kanda growled.

Lavi whined, nudging the boy with his nose. "Kanda…"

The beta must have been genuinely worried to call his Alpha by first name.

From the side, Lenalee shot a sideways glance at Kanda. 'You need to hurry up and decide; we don't exactly know what to do with him.'

A sudden intake of breath caught their attention, and then their human started chocking. It was a horridly wet sound that left blood splattered on his pale parted lips and trickling down from the corner of his mouth.

"Shit!" One human cursed.

"He must've punctured something!"

"He needs to be rolled on his side!" Came the anxious voice of another.

Kanda acted quickly and without hesitation, biting into the sleeve of the boy's dirtied white dress-shirt, using it to pull the youth onto his side. The white-haired human continued on with his coughing fit, only, this time, he wasn't choking on his own blood, and appeared to be breathing a little easier.

The Alpha barely noted the humans' surprise, all he knew was that what they'd said had worked, and he had absolutely no idea what to do next. He'd always hated feeling useless, but having to depend on a human yet again was a new low for him.

Grudgingly, he backed a couple metres away, a silent indication of him allowing them to continue meant for the blond human alone, eyes on the boy's bruised face.

Lavi cautiously followed his Alpha, he too unsure as to if what they were doing was really for the best. They'd seen firsthand how their human acted after interacting with some of its own species.

When another human tried to follow after the blond, Kanda snarled menacingly, crouching low in a show of getting ready to attack, effectively scaring the shit out of practically everyone.

The three wolves stiffened when the Bak-human finally reached the boy, exchanging wary looks. They knew that their human needed help… but… to let someone else get this close…

The blond knelt, a hand first brushing white strands from his face, then moving down to prod at the younger's stomach with a frown. "Someone get me a portable ambuli bed! He needs immediate surgical attention. We need to get him back immediately!"

And the wolves could do naught but watch as the situation was taken out of their paws and their human was set up onto some kind of bed with wheels, which was then lifted up into one of the white THINGS, the two doors closed shut before they could enter.

Kanda's glare was something fierce to all those who had the misfortune of meeting his deadly gaze, the wolf contemplating shifting to human-form then and there to get their human and figure out what to do next. He didn't appreciate being separated from _any _of his pack mates; the fact that he could quite easily get this one back wasn't the problem here.

The doors of a different THING opened, and the Bak-human tapped the side. "Come on. Up!" It called, voice incredibly calming to their ears, like it was trying not to startle the stressed trio.

The wolves were hesitant to do as the human had asked, but the second the other THING holding their human began to move, Kanda jumped up into the interior of the giant white THING.

'We can always kill it if this turns out to be a trap," Lavi reminded the others.

Lenalee started, and then sighed. 'That's what Kanda said when we first met… uh…'

"Moyashi," Kanda supplied from above, waiting for the others to follow. While he would have much rather them return to the house, he found himself unwilling to put too much of a distance between them all.

"Huh?" Both betas were confused, to say the least. Their Alpha rarely spoke in Japanese, and when he did, it was never about vegetables.

"He didn't say his name, so he's stuck with it now."

Despite the situation, Lavi allowed a wolfy grin to take hold of his features as he followed his Alpha; even if Kanda hadn't realised it, he'd lightened the mood, if only a smidge.

…

The boy had disappeared for a while, behind two swinging doors that lead to a place that reeked of sterility.

Kanda, Lavi and Lenalee had chosen to sit in one of the darker corners closest to those doors, and they would have had to have been stupid to not notice the frightened stares sent their way every time they were noticed.

Sometime later, their human was wheeled out through the doors by a male human with hair but a few shades lighter than its skin, soon relocated to a white room, furbished with practically nothing except an empty space in the middle left for a cot, an oddly-shaped metal beside table, and the chair placed beside it.

The three of them simply watched as the other human expertly placed pillows around the boy's head in an effort to make the latter as comfortable as possible in the condition he was in.

When it was finished, the darker-skinned human patted the youth's pale hand. "It's good to see you again, Allen."

Surprised, Lavi cocked his head, looking over at the Alpha. 'Is that… his name?'

They stayed like that for a while longer; the human standing beside the bed, and the wolves on the other side, keeping watch.

It was then that the rude red-haired male from a couple days ago entered, this time actually smelling relatively like a normal human being. Of course, that didn't stop the wolves from edging closer towards the slumbering boy.

"Well?"

The younger human sighed. "The mind is a fragile thing: once broken, it hard to repair."

With a grimace, the Cross-human moved forwards. "Narain, I didn't come here to chat about your philosophical shit: what happened?"

The Narain-human rolled its eyes. "Posttraumatic stress disorder. But I assume you already knew this…?"

At the elder male's nod, the brown-haired human turned back to the boy. Meanwhile, the wolves had decided to listen in on the conversation, realising that even if the creatures before them were humans, what they were saying was actually of great importance.

"People who suffer from PTSD are normally diagnosed with it due to the more regular symptoms: flashbacks, panic attacks, nightmares, avoidance of memories having to do with the incident. You following me?"

The Cross-human plonked down on the seat beside the bed, choosing not to respond in favour of simply listening, something the wolves had thought impossible for it to do.

Taking the silence for what it was, the younger continued. "What Allen experienced was one of the rarer symptoms. You could call it 'hyper-arousal', but it's more commonly known as the 'fight-or-flight response'. Subconsciously, he acted on his instincts to… I've lost you, haven't I?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" A red eye narrowed dangerously, focussed on the other's blank face.

The Narain-human gave the red-haired male a look that clearly said 'do you really want me to answer that?', before sighing once more and rubbing its temples. "Take these wolves, for example," it gestured to the trio watching the two humans from the other side of the bed. "If they were in a situation where they were made to feel threatened, their primary animalistic instincts would kick in, meaning that they would either run or attack: 'fight-or-flight'. Allen felt threatened, so he fought back."

The Cross-human's eyebrow rose. "Did you just liken the brat to an animal?"

With a shrug, the younger leant against the bed. "In a way. Practically everyone has these instincts, it's just after all these years, we haven't really had the need for them." Light brown eyes turned remorseful, before closing to hide the emotions within that were there for all to see. "People classified with anxiety disorders can sometimes take their innate instincts and then use them for themselves if they feel that they are under threat. Normal people have them, too: that uncomfortable feeling you get when someone's watching you; flinching when something gets too close to your face; these are all simple instincts that are similar to animals."

"You're getting attached," the elder muttered, though without much of a bite behind the words.

A wry smile took hold the darker-skinned human. "He _was _my first patient," it countered coolly. "I know Allen, so I know about the survivor's guilt." There was a slight pause, and then those brown eyes flicked over to the wolves. "That why he's still taking in animals, isn't it?"

The Cross-human ignored the question, instead asking one of its own. "Apparently he was smiling: is that normal?"

The other sighed once again. This human did that often. "Honestly… no. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say he enjoyed it. When some people fall into states like he did, they can't help but do whatever it is that they desire; in this case, he wanted to win. Maybe he wanted to do what he couldn't back then? I don't really know; try asking him when he wakes up."

"I won't be here when the brat wakes up."

The Narain-human smiled slightly as if it knew something the other didn't. "Let me guess: you don't want him knowing that you were here?"

"Keep your shitty mouth shut."

"Of course."

…

The Moyashi groaned, eyes fluttering open, much to the relief of the wolves. Hours after the red-haired human had left, their human had _finally _awoken.

Kanda pressed a paw against the boy's chest when the latter tried to sit up, the growl coming from the depths of his throat being his warning against continuing.

The youth studied the room, realisation slowly setting into sleepy silver eyes, before those twin orbs began to glimmer with amusement. "Are you my guards?"

The Alpha didn't answer. Not that the human would have understood if he tried.

Silently, the boy reached out for the folder that had been placed on the odd bedside table some time in his unconsciousness. He flipped the page, hiding the wince as he read on. "A slight fracture in my third rib down on the right side, some deep muscle bruising, a little internal bleeding, a sprained wrist, a couple grazes… I'm fine!"

The three canines looked up at him incredulously. They thought him insane, unable to believe the white-haired human's ability to make light of such a situation. For now, their rage at the human who had done this to the boy was temporarily forgotten; what mattered the most now was getting the idiot to focus more on his own wellbeing. And if he wasn't going to take care of himself, they'd force him to.

Even if it meant restraining him.

()()()

Tada!

Sorry if any of this was hard to follow or too fast-paced.

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Previous Chapter – **Saviour In The Shadows**

Next Chapter – **R&amp;R**


	9. Chapter 8 - R&R

**Chapter 8 – R&amp;R**

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**Allen Walker**

"You, Allen Walker, have been a very reckless individual as of late."

I noticed the wolves perk up at the sound of a familiar voice I hadn't heard in who-knows-how-long. A grin lit up my face at the sight of him, hair a mix between sandstone and bronze, eyes warm, white coat thrown over his skinny, yet well-built form. "Rein!"

"It's been years, hasn't it?"

"Yeah." I looked down, the smile on my face slipping. _The last time I saw Rein was..._

"I see you've been doing well," he continued, obviously trying to keep the conversation going. He'd always been like that; trying to make everyone around him happy.

"Yeah…" I repeated, trailing off. I was never really good at this… talking to people… and whatever else it was that everyone else did.

"How've you been?" He probed, sitting at the seat beside where a lay.

"Fine… I guess."

Narain sighed, staring me straight in the eye. "You don't have to be so withdrawn; no one should ever have to go through that."

My heart tightened in my chest, like someone had placed it in a clamp, making it harder to breathe. "You're wrong… I deserved it all…" _Not that living doesn't already make it so hard to breathe._

He shook his head, chocolate-coloured eyes _willing_ me to understand. "What happened… especially to someone of your age… you need to understand that it wasn't your fault."

Unsettling panic welled up within me at the mention of that taboo subject, the clamp squeezing tighter around my heart. "You don't know a thing… H-he's gone, an-!"

"Maybe," he interrupted, leaning towards me, "if you just let someone in, you'd be able t-

Something inside me just snapped; I simply couldn't handle it. "Get out!" I didn't want reassurance. I didn't want excuses. Why couldn't anybody see that? Why couldn't anyone understand?

With his face unreadable, Narain nodded, silently standing and leaving me in this practically bare white room.

Out of everything he could have said, _why_ did he have to mention 'THAT'? Why did he have to go and say it?

When the door swung shut behind him, I rolled onto my side, facing away from the room's entrance. I pulled the sheets up to my shoulders, feeling the fabric rubbing up against my bruises with a wince.

The red wolf nudged my cheek from the vacated chair, and without thinking, I shot him a bitter glare, ignoring the guilt that shot through me as he whimpered and quickly retreated.

I buried my face into the hospital pillow, ignoring how the sterile scent stirred up memories that I would rather have forgotten, squeezing my eyes shut to block out the blinding light that came in through the window.

…

I swung my legs over the side of the hospital bed, trying to ignore the navy wolf's growls of disapproval as I did so. The second I stood, my somewhat numb legs threatened to crumble out from under me, and it was on by using the wall as an aid that I didn't fall. It seemed that sleeping for as long as I had hadn't been kind to my legs, seeing as the next time I tried to take a step forward, I stumbled.

The green wolf rubbed up against my leg comfortingly, her pretty lilac eyes shining with worry.

"What are you doing?"

I flinched at the unexpectedly cold words, grimacing as the sudden movement tugged at my stitches.

Narain stood in the doorway, eyebrows raised, lips downturned, and a bundle of papers in hand. "You know the rules, Al: No leaving without permission."

Looking down guiltily, I moved a little closer to the bed. "I was just-"

"Trying to leave," Narain interjected, tone nonchalant.

My mouth clamped shut.

He walked in, dumping the papers on the hospital's movable bedside table. "Knowing you, I guessed that you'd want something productive to do. These are your homework sheets and what you would have been learning in your classes."

I straightened, eyes wide. "My saviour!" I crooned, this time ignoring the tug of my stitches. There was no way in hell I could ever afford to fall behind. Even if I _was _suspended.

"Down," he ordered, two tanned hands pushing me back down onto the bed. "I'm guessing you're hungry?" He glanced over at wolves. "They probably are, too. I'll have something brought in for you guys to eat."

"Thanks…"

There was a silence. _Oh… things are awkward again…_

"Hey… Narain?"

He paused on his path to the door, not even turning to look back at me. "Yes?"

My throat felt thick. "I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier," I murmured, voice unnaturally small, though loud enough for him to hear.

Narain left without a word, and I knew that I wasn't yet forgiven. I hadn't expected to be, anyway.

Glancing across the room at the red wolf, I ran a hand through my hair. "And…" His head shot up, the canine staring at me, that deep green eye holding some strange sort of intelligence, and I just _knew _that he could understand me. "I'm also sorry… for before…"

He padded over, climbing onto the cot without much difficulty and resting at my feet.

Blinking once, I cocked my head to the side. "Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

He bumped his head against my foot, letting out a keening whine.

"I'm glad," I beamed, doing nothing to hide how his acceptance of my apology made me feel. Ruining things just because of my low moods wasn't how I wanted our relationship to end.

Stretching my arms, I continued 'til I heard my shoulders pop from the strain, biting back the grin that came with seeing my companions' alarm at the sound. With a contented groan, I cracked my neck, before pulling the swinging bedside table towards me, getting ready to begin with completing my math homework.

Lunch came sometime after. Or, it should have, had the one to bring it not screamed as soon as she walked in. The girl, perhaps a few years older than I, was pointing at the wolves with a shaking hand, her dark brown eyes wide with fear; not even her large black-wire rimmed glassed could keep that hidden. Her two brown –verging on black- plaits swung us she jumped back.

Two young men ran in at the girls scream, one with short black hair and squinty-eyes, and the other with messy brown hair and dark eyes, both dressed similarly, only the brunet had his white-coat sleeves rolled up.

However, what mattered the most was that the both of them proceeded to freak out the moment they saw the wolves, who appeared fed up with all the screaming going on.

The brunet was shaking the other male, while the girl hid behind them both, obviously terrified. Not that I could blame them: dealing with a small pack of wolves wasn't really in their job description.

"I-It's alright!" I shouted, waving my arms, trying –with futility– to calm them all.

Sometime during this little display, the four-legged trio had moved over to the corner, as far from my human visitors as they could possibly be, ears flat against their skulls.

Eventually, the three interns –because the obviously weren't composed enough to be actual doctors– calmed down. Eventually. After, like, five minutes of screaming and trying to 'save the patient'. I was actually quite amazed to find that no one came to check out the source of all the noise and commotion.

Apparently, the black-haired one was the first to at least partially adapt to the situation, it being him who brought me my meal, inching slowly around the edge of the room, the other two at the open door looking like they were ready to bolt any second now.

"Thank you." I made sure to smile at them, because I knew that even a fake smile could do wonders to relax a person.

The girl blushed, moving closer to the brown-haired male, and then offered up a timid smile.

It was almost too easy. Being brought up by Master wasn't a completely useless experience after all. Then again, the ability to manipulate people wasn't exactly considered a good skill to possess.

"Y-you're welcome."

They were still watching the wolves with wary stares. Again; I can't blame them for that.

Then the girl, who had possibly gained some kind of confidence through our brief talk, picked up the three plastic bowls remaining on the food trolley that propped open the door, uncomfortably balancing all of them by herself. She somehow managed to set them down, though she didn't dare to get more than three metres from my furry companions. Really though, it took guts for a normal person to even get within five metres of them. _But I'm not normal…_

She quickly backed off as soon as she'd finished, retrieving the chart from the end of my bet, then back to standing at the door with her two intern buddies. "H-hi!"

Taken aback, my face went slack for a moment, probably making me look rather dopy, before an amused smile made itself known to me. "Hello." I bowed my head respectfully in her direction, instinctively closing my eyes as I did so.

"I'm Lou Fwa!" She stated, shifting in her place and gripping her clipboard tighter.

Hiding my nervousness, I turned the brightness setting on my smile up a notch. "I'm 'Allen Walker', and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The g– Lou Fwa's blush darkened as she hastily pushed her glasses back up her nose from when they'd slipped during her little outburst earlier.

Turning my attention to the two boys, seeing as I was being a tad rude by ignoring them, I bowed my head once again. "Nice to meet you, too"

Lou Fwa flinched, as if she'd only just remembered that it wasn't only the two of us in the room. "O-oh! They're 'Shifu' and 'Li Kei'!"

I noted that she must have just been a loud person in general, considering everything she'd said so far had been a bit louder than necessary. Not that it was a bad thing: some with her kind of personality was always good for the patients. Sick people tended to appreciate rowdy interns for some reason.

She appeared to want to say more, her brown orbs alight with curiosity and something else that I couldn't read, when the young man with brown hair, who may or may not have been Li Kei, visibly jumped, almost like he'd remembered something important.

"Ah! Lou Fwa! We've got more patients to feed!"

_Which it seems he did…_

The girl was hustled out of the room by the others with one last sideways glance at the wolves, her questions pushed to the backburner for the day

The second the door swung shut behind them, I dug in. I was utterly ravenous after not eating for so long, even fine with the hospital food provided. Truth be told, it wasn't all that bad. At least, the taste of it had improved since the last time I'd been stuck here.

It took me quite a while, but I began to take notice to the fact that the wolves weren't eating. "You can eat, ya know," I told them between mouthfuls, using a hand to cover my mouth as I spoke. That's when I saw uncertainty they had for the meat. I saw how they openly stared down at it, as if deciding whether of not eating it was the best course of action. I saw the uncertainty. I saw the barely concealed _fear_.

That alone made me angrier than it should have.

Fears _always_ had a root; they came from somewhere. Fears were things born and nurtured by experiences, feeding on memories and emotions to help them grow. Bad memories… negative emotions… Fears dug these up and threw them straight back in one's face. Fears were sometimes seen as irrational, but that didn't make them any less horrid. They crept into the mind and screwed up life at the most unfortunate of times.

What did those three have to go through to become this distrustful of humans?

"Want me to check it for you?" I could never describe how hard it was for me to pretend like everything was alright; to pretend that I didn't understand, and that I didn't _know_.

At my words, they hesitated for but a second longer, then hastily gobbled it all down, albeit somewhat grudgingly.

_What hell have they lived?_

…

The four of us settled down for the night a little after the sky had darkened, with the female and the bright red wolf pressing in close on either side of my legs, and the navy one between my legs and resting its muzzle on my lower stomach. They had a warm and comforting presence, making me feel as if just having them here would keep me safe from harm. I hadn't felt like this in years… to feel like this just because someone was there… to not feel scared anymore…

It was nice.

As I drifted off, I really hoped that I wouldn't have any nightmares tonight.

_And I didn't._

()()()

_So, this might be the last chapter I submit for a while, seeing as my laptop is actually one that has been temporarily leant to me, and its actual owner would like it back now._

_I'll try to get a new one, but I'm not particularly fond of these new laptops because I am somewhat of a technophobe (those new thingies people are incorporating into laptops make me cringe)_

()()()

Previous Chapter – **Trust Issues**

Next Chapter – **And Then…**


	10. Chapter 9 - And Then

**Chapter 9 – And then…**

()()()

**Yu Kanda**

It had taken a total of six days from their human to be discharged from the hospital. He'd been let out a little earlier than expected because a scan on this odd 'x-ray' device had told the white-coat humans that the boy wasn't as injured as they'd first thought. _Apparently_, the fracture wasn't very serious and actually quite miniscule. That didn't mean he was alright.

So, during this time, the wolves hadn't left his side. Not once. Except when he went to the bathroom: seeing him naked was a big no-no.

However, what irked Kanda the most was how that damned female human kept getting closer and closer to his human every single fucking time they met. He could practically smell the hormones oozing off of it.

The only reason he'd even been able to restrain himself from attacking it had been how the white-haired boy had somehow managed to distance himself from the female, even while being so close. Kanda had been able to see the subtle signs of discomfort it had around the female, despite how the boy had hid it behind such a polite façade.

The Alpha sneered at that. Their human relaxed more around them than around his own species. That alone was proof enough that the boy belonged to _them_, and not those stupid two-legged creatures.

Of course, Kanda was still annoyed. More like infuriated, really… That little stunt had set their plans back three days. _THREE_ WHOLE DAYS.

Well, at least they'd been able to learn some interesting things during this time, so it wasn't a _complete _waste of time.

One: their human's name was 'Allen Walker'.

Two: his fear of humans had a backstory that they were just _aching _to know.

While the Alpha was busy pondering that, the human boy had thrown open the door excitedly, the first thing it did once inside the house being to run to the kitchen

Two of the three canines shared a bemused look, the other actually secretly worried deep down. Deep, _deep_ down. Above all, he was just really annoyed at having to face these kinds of bothersome emotion. So he pushed them to the side; it wasn't anything knew.

A groan met their ears from the direction of the human. Staying silent, they heard the boy grumble out something that may have been 'I never actually got to go grocery shopping', followed the jingle of keys being retrieved from where he'd left them last time he'd gone out.

Allen barely even made it to the door before the Alpha blocked the path with his body, preventing him from leaving. The wolf didn't want the boy going out again, especially not after what had happened last time. _Nope_. The brat wasn't leaving. Outside was dangerous and the boy was far too breakable for Kanda's liking. Humans were nowhere near as strong as wolves; weaklings like the white-haired human had to be protected.

When the Moyashi tried to skirt around the Alpha, Kanda mirrored the boy, always between the former and the door. If the brat wanted to play this game, Kanda could go all day.

Seeming to sense this, the boy knelt down, now at eye level with the other. "I'll be fine. This time, I'll be a little more careful, 'kay?"

The Alpha still refused to budge an inch. He wasn't _stupid_. The human hadn't said that nothing bad would happen. Nothing was certain. The fact that they were now here, the three of them together, worrying over a _human _was proof enough of that.

Watching the wolf a little while longer with pursed lips, the Moyashi motioned Kanda over. The Alpha responded immediately, moving and sitting directly in front of the youth, waiting for what the boy had to say next. If it had something to do with leaving, god help him…

"What happened?" Allen scratched the Alpha's muzzle, liquid-silver eyes questioning. "Why were you…" The boy bit back whatever he'd been about to say, licking his lower lip with timidity.

Their human threaded his fingers through Kanda's fur, bring his facer closer to the latter's 'til their noses bumped in a kind of comfortable clashing of pale human skin and a wet canine rhinarium.

"What are you so afraid of?"

Kanda shifted uncomfortably as the questions hung in the air, his nose twitching. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the closeness. He was an Alpha, being this close to another was normal. But these questions… an Alpha wasn't supposed to rely on another like this boy wanted him to. It made things incredibly awkward.

He sensed the others shift behind him.

They knew how he worked. They knew him _too _well.

Just as he knew them.

He knew what they would do in this kind of situation.

Taking a page from Lavi's proverbial book on stupid things to do, Kanda licked up the entire left side of the boy's face.

"Gaah!" Allen squealed, falling back.

Great. Now the Alpha just had to deal with the smug look he could feel his damned male beta giving his from behind.

**Allen Walker**

The sleeves of my t-shit were short and I wasn't wearing gloves.

Of course, I was still in the house, but I was a little more comfortable with them seeing me like this now. They didn't seem as scared of it as I'd thought they'd be. That was always a plus.

The four of us were all in a heap on the couch watching reruns of _Heroes_. It was warm. _I _was warm.

"I'm gonna miss you guys…" I sighed, not missing them tense at my words. I knew they couldn't stay with me forever, except, I didn't think they understood that.

They didn't belong with me. I wouldn't confine them here.

But their fur was… so warm… and… _inviting_.

I smiled despite myself. It really had been too long since I'd felt this sort of emotion. I mentally chastised myself for becoming this attached.

What I'd done would only make it harder to say my farewells.

I scratched their bellies, mindful of all the bandages that I'd managed to change earlier today. The red wolf seemed to like it there the most, though I could see that the navy one was pretending he didn't actually enjoy it, despite the little keening whine I got out of him when I stopped. He glared at me for that. _Stubborn bastard._

We were only halfway through episode four when went my mind started going fuzzy and I began to drift off, a series of colours and memories playing across the back of my eyelids in no particular order.

_Two large hands bruising my forearms. My face shoved down into the floor. The acrid metallic taste of my own blood._

_Black._

_The shadows seemed alive. They taunted me. Beckoned for me. _

_Glassy eyes that weren't my own. _

_Pain ripping through my body._

_Orange. _

_The crackle of burning wood. Watching as he screamed, flames stripping flesh from bone._

I was pulled from the drea- no… I was dragged from my _nightmare _by someone who shook me by the shoulders. Cracking open an eye with a yawn, the dark shape looming above me eventually came into focus. "Wha?"

Slowly, my mind put everything together, trying to make sense of it all. Like the fact that I didn't remember inviting anyone into my house that _didn't _have four legs.

I was underneath a man; that much was certain. His chest was bare and decorated by a strange swirling tattoo on his left pectoral that reached with black tendrils over his shoulder. Long tresses of navy-blue tickled my face from the way he leant over me, the rest of it all untied and cascading down around him like a waterfall of one of the deepest of blues I'd ever seen. Dark eyes stared down into my own lighter ones, almost unreadable, verging on scrutiny, and just a smidge of frustration.

Recognition came like a bucket of ice water, freezing me to the core. _O-oh god!_

My breathing picked up, and I could feel my body trembling. Striking out blindly, I winced as my fist connected with something that felt like a face, and then I scrambled off the couch, making a dash for the door.

My hopes of escape were crushed when someone tackled me from behind, dragging me down to the floor.

I couldn't scream, my voice caught in my throat, too terrified to even attempt making a sound.

It was futile; no one would come to my rescue, anyway.

Strong hands held me down, pushing me into the wooden flooring when I tried to stand.

A sob made itself know to me, and I only just barely realised that I was its origin. It was followed by more horridly shameful and humiliating sounds that wracked through my body and refused to subside. Once they began, I simply couldn't stop.

I reflexively curled my body up into a ball, using my hands to shield my neck as I waited for the inevitable.

But his hands retreated.

And… nothing.

No one touched me. No one yelled at me to 'shut up'. There was nothing except for the sound of my hyperventilating and crying.

I was half convinced it was some kind of ploy to lure me into a false sense of security then finish the deed, but every second that passed made me thing that it wasn't so.

Eventually, my tears slowed to a stop, breathing gradually evening out, hiccups becoming more few and far between, and I hesitantly raised my head.

The man, who appeared to be Japanese in origin, sat cross legged roughly a metre from where I lay, mouth pulled into a partial grimace. "You done now?" His voice was smooth, holding not much trace of an accent.

I pushed myself up into a seated position, back against the wall, wiping the tears from my face using the back of my hand. My head hurt from crying, the pain now a dull throb in my temples that was easily dismissible. There were more pressing things to be dealt with than a headache.

He made to advance, and I, in turn, pressed myself as far against the wall as I could, eyes watching him for any more movements.

He backed off.

Something nudged my side. After a mini-heart attack, I shakily patted the green wolf's head.

My attention quickly returned to the Japanese man and his now-calculating stare, scolding myself for looking away, if even for a moment.

Fate must have had it in for me, because the next thing I knew, a soft voice from beside me spoke up.

"You're 'Allen', right?"

I whipped my head to the side, this time actually _having _a heart attack upon seeing my hand on the head of a young girl, who was possibly around my age, her violet eyes shining with concern. She, too, lacked any form of clothing.

I withdrew my hand from her like she was fire.

_W-what?!_

She smiled at me, reaching out for my hand. When I flinched away, hurt flashed through her eyes. "We don't want to hurt you."

I wrapped my arms around my legs, silently praying for them to leave.

_What's going on?_

"We just wanted to thank you."

Now _that _was unexpected.

"'Thank me'?" I asked, doubt thick in my voice as I finally broke my silence.

She smiled slightly. "Yes, for taking care of us."

…_?_

"You wrapped our wounds and fed us, so, thank you." She reached for me again, and I, with no more room to move back, winced as she rubbed my knee soothingly.

"B-but I didn't d-do anything." My voice was shaky. It was pathetic. But I was _scared_. "I don't e-even know you."

That smile of hers held patience, almost like she was waiting for me to realise something. "Yes, you did," she insisted.

The red wold shoved its way past, head bumping against my knees. He looked at me, and I mean really _looked _at me, with the same emotions in his eyes as that girl, _waiting_ for me to see _something._

And I watched as he morphed into a naked red-head, bandages swathed around his right eye, and that other brilliant green eye filled with such familiar intelligence. "Do you understand yet?"

_Huh?_

After that, my mind just kinda shut down on, everything going black, the last thing I remembered before it all faded away being the Japanese man shaking his head, those cobalt orbs closed.

Fate really screwed me over this time.

()()()

_I have fantastic news! I brought the laptop off of the person who leant it to me and now it's mine! Yay! I'll be able to continue writing! _

_Anyway, I plan on placing little hints here in there so people aren't too shocked or horrified over Allen's past. _

_There will still be fluff, but the story has really begun to move now, so there may also be a couple… dark scenes._

()()()

Previous Chapter – **R&amp;R**

Next Chapter – **Futures And Planning**


	11. Chapter 10 - Futures And Planning

**Chapter 10 – Futures and Planning**

()()()

**Allen Walker**

It was pretty dark out by the time I woke; my stomach was telling me that it was most likely sometime in the early hours of the morning. I climbed out of bed with a groan, my body stiff, like I'd spent half the night sleeping on the floor. What I found odd, though, was that I didn't even remember putting myself to bed.

What I did remember, however, was having the weirdest dream…

Walking on unsteady feet to the door, I opened it, hand lingering on the doorknob, and came face-to-face with the red-head from my crazy dream last night. "You're finally up!"

My mouth fell open, eyes widening a little. I blinked a few times, and when he didn't disappear, I rubbed away at the sleep in my eyes. But of course, when I checked again, he was still right there, standing in front of me with a wide grin.

When it finally clicked in my head that maybe my little dream hadn't actually been as such, I tried to slam the door shut in his face. 'Tried' being the key word here.

His reflexes were far superior to mine, wrenching the door back open with ease. "Wait!"

It was his strength, too, that made me feel as if anything I tried would prove to be futile. He hadn't even struggled with me while trying to open that door… and my quasi-dream from before was telling me that he'd shown me nothing yet.

I slowly inched away, hoping upon all hope that he wouldn't notice my retreat. If I could just get... Who was I kidding? What could I do in a situation like this?

He must have realised what I was doing, because the next thing I knew, my left wrist was in his strong grip, and I was being dragged through the doorway. "Geez, you've got to strop freaking out," he muttered beneath his breath.

_My left wrist…_

My body tensed, joints stiffening.

_He's touching it! My left arm! He's _touching_ it!_

I dropped my eyes to where his hand wrapped around my thin wrist, internally cringing at the sharp contrast between his light beige and my ugly mass of veiny red, knowing that I wouldn't be freeing myself unless he allowed it.

The sound of a stomach growling drew me from my thoughts, directing me to the man before me scratching the back of his head using his spare hand. "Listen…" He sighed, looking me dead in the eye. "Do you think you could forget the whole freaking out thing and make something for us to eat? I mean… we didn't get dinner, so we're a bit hungry, you know?"

A quick glance around me showed that I'd been unknowingly led to the kitchen while I'd been busy indulging myself in my anxiety induced thoughts.

I guess I probably should have been hungry too, because the last time I'd eaten had been at around lunchtime yesterday, but instead, I just felt nauseas.

All was quiet. The red-head was looking down at me expectantly. He was most likely waiting for an answer.

I nodded once, sighing in relief when he released my wrist.

I wanted my gloves. And a long-sleeved shirt.

Scratching at my left wrist out of habit, I shuffled over to the bench, making sure to keep the man in the corner of my sight the whole time, slightly unnerved with the way he, too, was watching me as he leant up against the wall, both arms crossed.

I stood like that for a second more, and then set myself to work, opening the fridge to have a quick poke around for anything edible.

My eyes landed on the leftover soba from lunch yesterday, brows pulling together in confusion. They could eat that, right? They'd eaten it before… now that I thought about it, were wolves supposed to eat those kinds of foods?

I took the container from its shelf, staring down at the plastic cuboid in my hands, before setting it down on the nearby countertop.

_Maybe a hallucination… Did someone slip me something?_

I removed the lid with a frown. It would make a whole lot of sense, at least, if someone _had _given me something. I mean, hallucinations _were_ a symptom of hallucinogenic-type drugs…

But what if they weren't hallucinations? Did that mean that there were actually wolf/human people in my house?

Well… that hand… it'd _felt _real… I could still feel where he'd touched… the skin there tingled. That wasn't too much of a surprise, though. No one had touched that arm in years. People normally couldn't stand to _look_ at my arm, let alone _touch_ it.

My lips pressed together in thin line as I retrieved three plastic bowls from one of the higher cupboards.

It was a good thing I'd managed to go grocery shopping yesterday, or else I wouldn't have anything to feed them. Though, the three of them _had_ accompanied me all the way to the store, growling up a storm when I told them they weren't allowed to follow me in.

_The three of them… are people… People… PEOPLE!_

I had to grip the counter to stop myself from falling as my legs threatened to collapse out from under me when panic finally reared its ugly head. My heart thumped loudly against my chest… could they hear it? I tried to hide my short panicky breaths, head hung low as my body shook. I looked down at one of my hands, swallowing audibly when it trembled before my eyes, feeling completely helpless when my body's tremoring refused to subside.

There was a whine from behind, and I knew they were watching me; I could feel it. I knew what they'd see, too.

My skin would be a sickly pale… waxen, maybe. I bet I looked to be a pathetic sight, like my legs might give in at any given second.

"Do you need some help?" The red-head asked, voice warm, yet every word carefully chosen, and I knew that the question hadn't been in regard to the meal.

I shook my head almost hesitantly, more to clear it than as an answer to him.

I calmed the longer I stood there, thoughts wandering as I separated the container's contents into the three bowls.

_Okay, let's rationalise this._

_Roughly twenty days ago I met three injured wolves on the way home from work… and now I find out that they're actually…_

I bit my lip, not really wanting to freak out again. I'd already done enough of that for today. And maybe yesterday.

The longer I thought on it, the more everything started to make sense.

The kinds of wounds they'd sported -and still kinda did- at our first meeting weren't exactly made by claws. I'd watched enough late-night TV to know gun grazes when I saw them. So that meant the possibility of them being hunted was high. Not that I couldn't see why; semi-wolf/human-hybrids didn't exactly grow on trees.

And I wouldn't just go on jumping to conclusions and automatically assuming they were werewolves. That would be stupid. There had to be some sort of logical explanation for all this. I think…

_What've I gotten myself mixed up in this time?_

Sighing, I set the three bowls on the floor, jumping when the two still-wolves ran at them.

I'd have to work on that.

"Al?"

I started at the familiar nickname, finding myself caught in the gaze of a curious green orb. "U-uh… yes?"

A relieved smile broke out across his face. Relaxedly, he pushed off from the wall. "That's the first time we've properly spoken to each other." He held out a hand, moving disturbingly closer to me. "I'm Lavi, by the way"

I stared at the hand nervously, stepping back. "Oh…um… I'm-"

"Allen," he interrupted. Seeing that I wasn't going to make the first real move, he quickly reached out and snagged my hand, grip so strong I wouldn't be able to extract myself from his hold, even if I _really _tried. Just like last time. "That Narain-human called you 'Allen'. Took us forever to find out though. Yu-chan ended up nicknaming you 'Moyashi', but you can't really blame him, right?"

_Narain-human? _"Yu-chan? Who's that? And isn't that Japanese?" I asked, relaxing when he released my hand, cradling the appendage close to my chest.

"Yep!" He pointed over at the navy wolf, "that's Yu-chan! But it makes him grumpy when he's called that, so most just call him 'Kanda'. And this," he said, gesturing to the remaining wolf, "is Lenalee!"

At the sound of her name, the green wolf's head rose, her eyes on us.

_Wasn't she the one from before? When I…_

Embarrassed, I gave her an awkward little wave, attempting an equally awkward smile. "H-hi…"

…

Shifting nervously in my place, I looked over at the three of them lazing around on the floor in their four-legged forms. There they were, deadly balls of blue, green and red, all napping in front of the door. Their eyes were closed, sensitive ears drawn back, tails curled around their large bodies. It all made for a nice picture, if I got over the fact that they were _wolves_ inside my _house_.

I fiddled with the cuffs of the long-sleeved shirt I'd changed in to earlier, tugging at the white material of the gloves I now wore. I needed the added security that came with wearing all this and being as covered as I was. It made me feel safe.

Thinking better of what I'd planned, I wandered off into another room, groaning at my own cowardice. This wasn't the kind of thing I could put off forever. It was best just to get it all over and done with now, in case of something unforseen and I didn't have the time to do it later. Or I purposely forgot.

Shoving all insecurities to the very back of my mind, I drifted back out into the lounge room, suddenly glad to find that they weren't in their human forms right now. If they _had_ been in those forms, I might have lost my nerve altogether. I was much better at dealing with animals than humans.

"Um… Excuse me…" I tried, steeling my frayed nerves.

Three heads lifted and six ears twitched, three sets of piercing gazes making me extremely uneasy. Pushing the feeling to the side, I bowed low from the waist, eyes scrunched shut. "I apologise for my appalling behaviour yesterday…" Mana had taught me to use proper mannerisms when with others, and it was embarrassing to think that I'd forgotten them up until now and acted as I had. "I realise that you were simply trying to inform me of your… condition… and the way I acted was rather…" I trailed off, unsure as to how to continue, because, really, what _did_ one say to three wolf/humans?

I stayed like that, bowing as I was, for a while longer, not planning on moving until… well…. I don't know what I was waiting for. Just… _something._

Two hands then appeared from nowhere, grabbing hold of my face and pulling me upright so that bemused dark eyes could stare down into my own. The hands soon left my face, choosing instead to rest on my shoulders. "You're strange, even for a human," the Japanese man mused, the way he said it leaving me unsure as to if that was a complement or not.

The longer we stayed like that, just standing there staring at each other, the more I wanted to get away. He was too close, the sudden proximity threatening to bring unwanted memories to the surface. But, for reasons I couldn't even begin to understand, my body wouldn't obey me. His eyes wouldn't let me move. They held me in place.

When that inquisitive and unpleasant foreboding aura he exuded became too much for me to bear, I instead fixed my gaze to the ground, hoping it would allow me to gather my thoughts. I might have been able to do it, too, had I not noticed something that was rather hard to miss. Like, I don't know, that his perfectly sculpted, olive-with-gold-undertones body was bare and everything was hanging out for all to see.

So, yeah. Gathering my thoughts at that point in time was practically impossible.

He was like Dionysus, body seemingly cut and shaped of marble, proportions impeccable. Though, I did have to wonder how he managed to get it so b-

I stumbled back and out of his hold, horrified with not only the situation, but myself as well.

He scowled at my actions, the mood ruined. "What?"

"Y-you…"

"Speak up," he growled.

"You're not wearing any clothes!" I blurted, feeling my face heat up at my own words.

There was a sudden silence in the room, him with brows furrowed, me busy drowning in embarrassment.

And then he didn't bother to hide the smirk that crept across his face, something that left a sinking feeling in my heart.

When he took a step towards me, I took one away.

This continued until my back was to the wall and his arms were on either side of my head, preventing any and all means of escape. "So there's something wrong with us not wearing clothes, hm?"

_TooclosetoocloseTOOCLOSE_

His blue eyes hardened. "Wolves don't wear clothes."

I nervously nodded, shrinking beneath his stare. "I-I kno-"

"Good," he said, so close I could feel his breath wash over my face when he spoke.

I wasn't one for being all too fond of nudity. It honestly freaked me out and made me feel sick to the stomach.

And so, probably just because the cosmos hated me or something, that damned -now human- red-head went and nearly suffocated me in a bear hug. "You're adorable when you freak out like that!"

It took nearly all I had not to have a nervous breakdown then and there as I tried to go to my happy place where I wasn't being hugged by a naked acquaintance of mine that just so happened to be a wolf.

"Now," Lavi began, jovial smile becoming forced, "about these 'baths'…"

**Yu Kanda**

One thing they were certain of was that their human was still uncomfortable around them; however, he _did _seem to relax around them a little more if they remained in their original forms. That was good, considering it was those forms that they preferred.

That being said, it seemed that the boy hadn't even realised he'd been avoiding them in the first place.

Lavi was more than content to watch the boy and leave things as they were, whereas Lenalee thought it best to see how things played out and have him gradually get accustomed to our presence.

Kanda rolled his eyes. That left him as the one who'd have to take that first step and break the ice. Great. Because _that _would end well.

First checking to see that his Beta's weren't anywhere near him, the wolf grimaced at what he was about to do. He wasn't one for all that heart-to-heart touchy-feely crap, and was about to venture into uncharted and uncomfortable territory. The brat had better appreciate this later.

"OI."

Allen stood stock still, back straight, immediately freezing at the Alpha's harsh tone of voice.

Kanda leant forward, paying close attention to the way that the human boy sucked in a deep breath, yet didn't move away. That was an improvement. It was annoying when the brat tried to run. Pointless, too.

Their noses bumped as Kanda successfully attempted to recreate the scene from yesterday, this time staring down into those silver eyes that belonged to the one who'd save him and his Betas. It annoyed him, sure, that they'd needed outside help, but he'd taken what he could get, and could now say that he didn't regret it one bit. "Everything."

"H-huh?" Allen blinked in confusion, startled. Had the wolf said something beforehand and he hadn't heard it, or was the other beginning with something that made no sense at all?

Kanda clucked his tongue. He really didn't like talking all that much, except he _owed_ this human. This annoyingly airheaded stupid excuse for a weakling of a human had been the one to save them, after all. "You asked me what I was afraid of," he reminded the boy.

That left the boy even more confused, but with those eyes so close, Kanda found reading him easy. And he normally sucked at reading the brat.

"The probability of me seeing my pack again is low," he started, the two of them still not moving, "and it's my job as Alpha to be there for them, but I have you three fools to look after. I have no fucking idea what to do, and I don't know if they're waiting for me, or if they've been killed off already. I just don't fucking know, and I'm supposed to know everything. It sucks shit, Moyashi."

Allen pulled back, and despite wincing at the Alpha's apparent foul mouth, was warmed at the notion of being included in those Kanda saw he needed to care for, even though he didn't really know the guy. He'd decided to purposely ignore the 'Moyashi' part, though. For now. "I see. Then… " Silver orbs flickered up tentatively, landing on the elder's darker pair. " I guess I could help…" Gloved hands clenched into two tight fists. "I-I mean, if you'd a-allow it, of course," he added hastily, fumbling for words.

Kanda appraised the boy, looking the latter up and down with critical eyes. He wasn't all that certain about letting a human help out, but the kid had already proved to be trustworthy in what little time they'd spent together. Kanda had no reason to deny the boy, but he still had his Alpha pride. "I don't need your help."

At that, a white brow rose. "Yeah? So what's the plan?"

Although he wouldn't admit it, that question hit Kanda where it hurt. "None of your business,"

"Okay then," pale lips stretched into a wry smile, "where are they being held?"

Kanda remained silent.

Allen sighed, having finally caught the elder. "So you don't know?"

Gritting his teeth, Kanda regretted even starting this conversation in the first place.

"You do realise that to pull this off, you're going to have to know exactly where they are, right?" The boy stopped speaking for a second, frowning. "Though I guess if you can narrow it down to a square kilometre or something, we'll be able to work with that."

"Fine!" Kanda spat, miffed at how things had turned out. "You can help."

Allen smirked, an emotion present in those pools of mercury that the Alpha hadn't seen before. And it made him shudder.

"What kinds of cameras did they have? And did you see what alarm models they used? And what about-" The boy abruptly cut himself off upon seeing the blank stare he was given. "You… have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Kanda slowly shook his head. Couldn't they just attack the place in the dead of night like on that TV-show-thing they'd watched?

"What were you planning on doing; storming the place like a reckless idiot?"

At the lack of and answer he received, Allen was positively flabbergasted. To Kanda, he looked as if he couldn't believe what had been said. Or in this instance, what had been left unsaid.

The human boy rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers, groaning. "Listen, I'll see what I can do. For now, I want you three to go through some maps and tell me if anything looks familiar. Landmarks, directions… anything, okay?"

Kanda wasn't too pleased to be taking orders from this human, but he would admit that the kid sounded like he was a lot more knowledgeable and had more experience with this sort of thing.

The Alpha frowned at that. _Why does the Moyashi know all this?_

He didn't speak it aloud, but he was certainly curious.

Who was Allen, really?

…

The boy yawned, wiping away the tears that prickled at the corners of his eyes with the palm of his hand. He crawled into bed and collapsed on top of the sheets, too sleepy to bother dealing with much of anything right now.

It'd been a really strange day. A really, _really _strange day.

He flinched in surprise when the wolves jumped up to join him, his reaction startling the three of them.

Kanda then nonchalantly climbed over the boy, shifting into a larger naked form that loomed over the younger's ever-paling one. His trained eyes caught the tensing of muscles and subtle clench of the jaw, dark blue challenging the human, _daring _him to speak.

Uneasy with the position he was in, Allen averted his eyes, something that made the Alpha smirk. Looking away from him meant conceding dominance; Kanda had just won. Not that he didn't normally win; it was just that beating this brat was so much more fulfilling, because he was the first to go so far to challenge him. It was fun.

"Hey…"

Kanda's attention snapped back to the human boy beneath him, remaining silent as a cue for the younger to continue.

Allen pointedly stared at the opposing wall, giving the slab of painted whatever a dirty look. "You're not that bad of an alpha, ya know?"

If Kanda was caught off guard by that, he didn't show it.

Not that Allen gave the wolf time to react as he quickly rolled and buried his face in the pillow, hiding his smile.

Sure, it'd been weird, and his guests' lacking of clothes was unnerving, but it wasn't all that bad.

()()()

_Merry Christmas! And Happy Birthday Allen! (I won't have internet access on the 25th so I'm saying this all a day early)_

_Sorry it's late. Again. But it's a little longer than usual…_

_Also, YAY for the continuation of D. Gray-man's anime!_

()()()

Previous Chapter – **And Then…**

Next Chapter – **Fires or Fakes?**


	12. Chapter 11 - Fires Or Fakes?

**Chapter 11 – Fires or Fakes?**

()()()

**Allen Walker**

He was lying on my face.

That goddamn, four-legged _jerk_ was lying on my face and I couldn't breathe!

Groaning, I tapped whatever part of him I could to signal that I was awake, squirming in discomfort as his fur tickled my cheek and the scent of dog invaded my nostrils. When he didn't immediately move, I tried pulling him off, and then relaxed slightly when the weight above me shifted.

That's about when I felt a tongue in my ear and started screaming my head off.

And someone laughed.

Annoyed, I shoved Kanda onto the floor.

All I heard was a growl and the next thing I knew, I too was on the floor, face hurting and something heavy on my back.

"Really? You're doing this _again_?" I was getting sick of him pinning me down like this.

I knew I'd have to wait for the Alpha to get off; he'd made that quite clear time and time again. Was that an alpha thing, or a Kanda thing? I really couldn't tell.

I felt him move, and then yelped as claws dug into my butt through my pants. "Hey! Not there!" After a moment of nothing, the claws dug deeper. "That hurts!" I wiggled in an attempt to dislodge him from his perch, but stopped when I realised that there was something wet at the base of my back. It was soft and… oh god… I could feel his muzzle slowly pushing up my shirt. "O-oi! Kanda!" My voice came out a tad shakier than I'd meant it to, breath hitching as the wetness trailed back down. "Stop…"

A whine, another pause, and Kanda climbed off, stalking off before I could sit up and confront him about his actions.

A quick glance around the room showed that I was alone.

Grimacing, I rubbed at my lower back, feeling a slight wetness from where Kanda's wet nose had brushed against my skin.

_What the hell?_

…

So, maybe, I might just be a little good with computers.

Okay, so that statement could most definitely be hung up on a banner alongside the words '_UNDERSTATMENT OF THE YEAR_', but hey, I never was one to brag. And yes, the reason behind my lack of bragging _could _be chalked up to the fact that I had no friends, ergo, no one to listen to me brag.

No one praised me when I'd aced all my computer-related classes, and having neither hobbies nor a social life left me with far too much time alone with my computer. And Tumblr.

All of that, in turn, had given me the time I'd needed to become the expert hacker I am today. TV had screwed me up a bit, too.

My skills weren't exactly… valued by the people around me. Take two years ago, for example, when I'd angrily hacked into the school's database and altered half of the student population's grades. Let's just say that their parents weren't all too impressed, though they never did figure out that it was me…

Then there was that one incident in which I'd accidentally hacked the power grid and freaked out once I screwed up everyone's plumbing... The police traced that one back to me and Cross had to pay this huge fine… which I ended up paying him back for… with interest… and wine.

Anyway, so why am I thinking about this? Because I may or may not be planning to try and hack a super-secret lab base full of bastards in white who experimented on wolf-people. Unfortunately for me, it was beginning to seem more and more likely that I'd actually have to _be_ on site to hack 'em. _If I can even do it at all…_ Geeze, I wasn't exactly poster boy for confidence… I _should_ be able to do it…

When my life had become a sci-fi/fantasy novel, I honestly didn't know anymore. I'd like to say it was the day I'd met those three, but I got the feeling that my life would have taken some crazy turn sooner or later.

I suppose I didn't really mind how it'd turned out, and if I had a chance to go back and erase our meeting, I wouldn't.

It was nice to feel wanted again.

**Yu Kanda**

The three of them strained their ears, only able to catch mere snippets of their human's conversation on that small device that let him talk to people who weren't even there. They hadn't been able to make head nor tail of the discussion so far, and from the way things were going, they didn't expect to anytime soon.

"So all I have to do is meet him…" His tone was light, playful, even. "…cash on hand…" A soft chuckle. "Of course it's not for anything illegal… Yes… know how it sounds…Thanks…Anita."

He ended the call with a sigh.

"Who was that?"

Allen started, surprised at the Alpha's abrupt appearance. "Oh, hey."

"Who was that?" Kanda repeated, unable to conceal the mistrust that crept into his voice. He didn't mean to doubt the boy, but old habits die hard.

The human's smile faltered, falling just as quickly as it had appeared. "My boss."

Doubt became confusion in an instant. "What?"

"You know, the person who gives me money?" Allen said coolly, shrugging.

"What were you talking about?"

Pale lips pursed, white brows dipping. "I was… I needed something… and she put me in touch with someone who can help."

"What do you need?" Kanda asked, continuing on with his apparent game of 'twenty questions'.

At that, silver eyes barely did a passable job at concealing poorly hidden mirth. "Something that may get me arrested."

"What?"

"Nothing," the boy dismissed with a wave of his hand. "As long as the cops don't find out, we're all good." His expression turned thoughtful. "The guy selling doesn't take card since it's too easy to trace… He's smart… I've gotta pay in straight up cash."

All that did was leave more questions than answers as Kanda's confusion grew.

"Don't worry about it," Allen told the wolf with another one of those smiles. And then, wanting to change the subject, the human's eyes flickered back to the floor nervously. "Anyway… what was earlier about?"

Kanda waited for the boy to elaborate, having absolutely no idea as to what it was the other was referring to.

"When you were on top of me this morning and tried pushing up my shirt." Allen winced as soon as the words left his mouth. _God_, he'd made that sound so much worse than it actually was. Thankfully, the species clash meant no one else had picked up on it.

The Alpha's expression darkened. "You don't need clothes," he muttered angrily. All clothes did was get in the way. They were uncomfortable and completely _useless_.

With that now out there, Kanda stormed over to the couch several metres away, sitting down stiffly. From there, he could hear Lavi padding over to the boy, and even the changing of wolf to human forms, from the shifting of bones to the slight popping of joints. He could hear it all.

"Maybe I can explain," Lavi offered, tell-tale grin in place. "Y'see, we have this thing about skinship. Wolves are a pretty social species, that's why we form packs," the red-headed wolf explained, excited to be able to pass on at least some of his knowledge, even more so with it being Allen who listened. "We like to all stick together, so being able to touch one another directly brings us a lot of comfort."

That answered _some_ of the boy's unspoken questions, but not the one Allen had asked aloud. "Then why…?"

"Yu-chan's just cranky because your clothes are in the way and he can't touch you."

Kanda stole a glance over the back of the couch, just in time to see surprise take hold of the human boy. "Oh."

Lavi nodded to the youth's gloved hands. "You started wearing gloves again right after we'd finally managed to get you to relax. It's kinda annoying, considering how long it took for you to take them off the first time around." And then the red-head's grin grew wider, voice suddenly dropping in volume. "Besides, I think Yu-chan likes it when you stroke his fur with your bare hands."

A cushion went flying through the air and hit Lavi square in the face, knocking said wolf to the floor.

"Shut the fuck up, Baka Usagi!"

…

The forest had had its own particular smell, so full of life.

Most think that they're all the same, that one was the same as the next, but that wasn't true.

Each tree had its own individual story, each cicada its own song, each bird its own melody.

The animals weren't always the same, either. Sometimes they were big, sometimes small, sometimes with claws, and sometimes without.

A forest was the home to an innumerable amount of life. Every single organism made it what it was, from the blossoms of the _magnoliophyta_ division, to the _protozoa_ and _helminths_ that reside in river water.

Everything had a role to play, and this all made sure that nothing was ever the same.

But this one… this forest… it was _different_.

Everything was tainted by that sickening aroma emanating from the building tucked deep within this forests' centre, filled with humans. Or, at least, those who were only human in name alone. To the rest, if their activities were to ever be brought to light, they were monsters.

To some who'd personally suffered at the hands of those 'people', they were torturers, and to others, they were figures that constituted nightmares.

Tonight was a moonless one; something human's called a 'new moon'. Whatever the name, what they knew right now was that human visibility was down, somewhere around the bare minimum at most.

Of course, for them, that matter of their vision was another story entirely.

Allen begrudgingly allowed himself to be guided by a hand from the darkness, finding it hard to rely on another, especially to this degree, but did so anyway. He could manage. He _would_ manage.

When two hands pressed down lightly on his shoulders, the boy stopped, and then the dark silhouette before him vanished, leaving him all alone.

Kanda shifted back to his original form, having already informed the human boy of there being no cameras in the immediate vicinity. For now, the three wolves were to check the area for anything unsavoury, whilst the white-haired boy got to work at figuring out how to get inside.

The Alpha silently returned soon after, watching the youth warily.

He didn't need the moonlight to see the slight 'v' in the human's forehead, a sign of deep concentration. The boy was crouching down, typing away at his laptop, the dim blue glow of the device giving him a sickly, haunted look as accentuated shadows made his cheeks appear hollow and eyes sunken. Kanda didn't like it. Unlike them, this boy was more suited to light, undeserving of its counterpart.

A snapping of a twig told of my Betas' return, and a pale head shot up, silver eyes trembling, darting around.

Kanda stepped out behind one of the thicker trees, whining to catching the other's attention. He saw the boy relax as soon as their gazes locked, and the wolf was proud. _Finally_, their relationship was becoming less strained.

Seconds later, the two of them were joined by two more, both of whom hadn't found anything worth mentioning in their quick run around the perimeter.

The human grinned over at his canine companions excitedly, unable to contain his glee. "They're on a remote server. Lucky for us, I can still trigger the fire alarm from here!" That now said, the boy made a show of pressing a particular key.

The alarm that pieced its way through the quiet of the night came in the form of a high-pitched wailing sound that was of obvious irritation to the wolves, what with their sensitive hearing and all.

Allen quietly shut the lid of his laptop and tucked it into his backpack, eyes now focussed solely on the building.

They didn't have to wait long.

It took five minutes, at most, before the residents came pouring out of the building like a nest of ants disturbed. Much slower, mind you. And a lot louder.

"Let's get started."

()()()

_Is this all happening too fast? I don't know, it sounded okay-ish in my head…_

()()()

Previous Chapter – **Futures and Planning**

Next Chapter – **Ousted**


	13. Chapter 12 - Ousted

**Chapter 12 – Ousted **

()()()

**Allen Walker**

The four of us inched our way closer and closer towards the building, only hoping that we wouldn't be spotted. The dark clothing I'd chosen to wear helped me to better blend into the surroundings; that's also why we'd come on this month's moonless night, when it'd be darkest.

So yes, Kanda's want to raid the joint 'in the dead of night' wasn't that far off from what we were doing. Actually, that's exactly what we were doing. That smug aura he'd practically _exuded_ when I'd first broached the subject of what time to begin this little 'operation' of ours had been absolutely punch-his-stupid-face-in worthy. Of course, with me being the perfect and polite gentleman that I am, I couldn't lower myself to such a tasteless course of action in order to get back at the arrogant bastard.

Nope. Instead, I'd disposed of all the Soba in the house. Which I'd soon learned was the worst mistake of my life because that's how I found myself tied up in my bedsheets the next day on the wooden floor with an angry wolf sitting on my stomach demanding the return of his favourite food. He wasn't happy when he'd heard what I'd done. Let's just say that I was luckily to have gotten off with only being chased around the house for two hours. And when I said 'around', I meant inside _and_ out. I'll admit that peoples' reactions when they saw me running around the yard with a murderous wolf on my arse had been very… interesting, to say the least. Not one of them called the pound or anything, though, so they mustn't have cared one way or another if I got eaten or not.

I really love people; aren't they just the_ best_?

A whine and the butting of a head against my leg snapped me from my thoughts, straight back to the present, where all that could be heard was the alarm's high-pitched wail, and the obnoxiously loud chattering of those who's exited the laboratory. None of them seemed all too worried; were the alarms going off a common occurrence around here? If so, all the better for us. They'd be less likely to suspect anything was wrong if they thought it was 'yet another accident in the lab' or something.

"Remember the plan, okay? Don't let anyone back in," I reminded them, and then hesitated as a particularly troublesome thought crossed my mind. "But if they have weapons, make sure you back off." I couldn't have them go getting injured again, especially if it was because of something I'd told them to do. A bitter little voice in the back of my head laughed, saying _there you go again_, _only ever really worrying about yourself_. Aside from wincing, I otherwise ignored it in favour of eyeing the Alpha after seeing that only two had nodded in agreement to my warning. I fixed him with my best are-you-kidding-me look, and what he gave me in return was a look that was a mix of unease laced through with poorly concealed doubt. "I promise you, this _will_ work."

The two of us continued our short staring match, before he eventually -although undoubtedly unwillingly- nodded.

I smiled, relieved. "Good."

I knew that I still wasn't completely trusted; I mean, who could blame them? I was human, and they hated humans; simple as that. But even so, the reasons as to why I was helping them weren't all that noble… it's just… in my eyes, leaving one's own family behind is taboo. A taboo I, myself, had broken. So yeah, I didn't deserve their trust. I didn't deserve anyone's trust, forgiveness, or kindness. But I still got it nevertheless. From Narain and Anita and… some of it from these three here with me now… I guess I really am awful, to be able to just continue taking like this without ever giving or doing something that warranted the kind treatment they gave.

When they weren't watching, I felt my smile twist itself into a grimace as though I was in pain, and yet I really couldn't feel much of anything right now. But I could _hear_. I could hear that nasty nagging voice spouting out vindictive words and phrases, mocking me and everything I am. _Why are you even here? _I licked my lips, eyes resting on the wolves beside me, their attention focussed on the humans further away, waiting for the rest. _So you found yourself a nice bunch of freaks, didjya? _I frowned, shaking my head. They weren't freaks; none of this was their fault. _Is the disgusting little creep upset? Well? Mad because the dogs were insulted? _My jaw and fists both clenched, gaze now on the dirt-covered forest ground. _You know what? They're _perfect_ for you! Three freaks of nature for the disgusting little monstrosity! _

The voice was too loud… it hurt… my head hurt… Why wouldn't it go away? This was my head… so… where these _my_ thoughts?

There was a sharp pain in my right hand and the voice was gone, the ache in my head letting up, if only just a little.

Taking a shaky breath, I blinked, mind muddled and vision blurred. I blinked again, and the haze cleared. My eyes gradually travelled down my arm, wandering further until I saw Kanda. Slowly, with my mind in the jumbled state that it was, I realised that he must have been the source of the pain. Blinking once more, I saw my right hand in his maw, fingers between his razor sharp teeth. He must have bitten me… not hard enough to tear the fabric of my gloves, but to bring me back to reality…

I shot him a grateful smile. It wasn't a happy one, more poignant, if anything. It was easy to see how confused that made him.

Disregarding his inquisitive gaze, I pointed over at the crowd of humans. Enough time should have passed by now; that's probably why Kanda did what he did in the first place.

With sure, fleet-footed steps, I quickly reached building's entrance. Luckily I didn't need a card to swipe across the electronic panel to gain entry, the door having been left wide open in the haste of those who'd earlier fled outside.

What was that saying again? Haste makes waste? Well I'm sure they'd be thinking something along those lines later on. I smirked deviously at that. What they were doing later was a lot more likely to be a ton of swearing. Or crying. Or both. Hopefully both… The bastards deserved it.

The second I crept in, I wrinkled my nose as the scent hit me. It was worse than a hospital, the air thick with antiseptics, disinfectants, and an overall cleanliness that made me want to gag.

Lifting a hand to cover my nose, I went on, jogging almost soundlessly down the long, silent hallway.

After barely half a minute had passed, I came to an intersection, the path splitting three different ways. There was no hesitation necessary; Lavi had already mentioned being kept on the left side of the facility, so my choice here was a real no-brainer.

There wasn't any noticeable difference that set apart this hall from the last; it would be easy for me to get lost in here if I wasn't careful. I sighed, the sound loud in the silence, reverberating and bouncing off the walls in an eerie way. Shivering, I picked up the pace a bit. It was cold here, unnaturally so. I couldn't imagine staying here for long… and yet… they'd been here for _years_.

I quickly quashed the pang of pity that flared to life within me at that thought, knowing full well that such a feeling wouldn't be appreciated. It wouldn't make this any better. It never did; I knew that better than anyone. Pity was an absolutely useless emotion that did nothing more than reassure the one feeling it of their humanity. But here, in this endless maze of steel doors and white hallways, with its sudden corners and hard grey floors, pity had no place.

I slowed myself to a stop as the sound of movement further ahead of me, though moreso from a left corner that I hadn't noticed up 'til now, too lost in my own thought to pay attention to my surrounding.

With ears peeled, I could tell that the sounds had come from someone running, and that whoever it was wasn't at all used to physical exertion, if the laboured breathing accompanying heavy footfalls was anything to go by.

I pressed myself to the wall, waiting with baited breath until a man in a white coat stumbled around the corner, only to end up tripping over my conveniently placed foot. The straggler groaned, and then stared up at me in shock right around until my fist connected with his face, making a painful _crack _sound. I almost felt the need to apologise to the guy. Almost. He didn't deserve it.

I glanced around the corner, calming a bit when I found that he hadn't been accompanied by anyone else.

Flexing my hand, I winced. It throbbed, though I guess that made sense; it had been quite a while since I'd really punched someone. And that time had landed me in the hospital.

Riffling through his deep white pockets, I found a key-card. That was good; it could come in handy later. My luck with that first door had been chance, and that wasn't something I could constantly rely on to pull this off. Luck couldn't only get you so far…

I took the corner opposite to the one that guy had come from, throwing open each door as I went. _Nothing._ They'd been filled with useless things like stacks of papers and strange diagrams on whiteboards, although I _did _cringe at the one with little silver tools laid out neatly atop a piece of white fabric. It'd made me feel sick to the stomach to see that, because it led to the question of _what were they used for?_ And I wasn't stupid enough _not _to have one or two graphically morbid ideas lurking about in the darker corners of my head.

That overly sanitised stench wasn't helping any.

Now nearing the end of the corridor, I found a thick metal door to the left with words labelling it '_**Canidae (Lupus) Homo (Genus)**_'in plain bold lettering, and if my science classes at school -and basic knowledge of Latin- hadn't been a complete waste, then this was the room I'd been looking for.

Considering the specific wording used, it was safe to assume that the ones who'd worked on Kanda and his pack had maybe specialised in some sort of doctoral or biological studies.

And what exactly were they _doing_ here? Yes, I knew that it had something to do with the splicing of genes to create an entirely new species from the Deoxyribonucleic acid of two separate organisms, but _what for_?

Those that weren't human killed and tortured so they'd survive. But us? Was it because we humans were sick, disgusting creatures that couldn't leave well enough alone? Because _because_? Because we could? Because we were naturally curious beings that could do nothing but want… desire… touch… have _everything_ and _anything_ we could, even if it was forbidden? Like Adam and Eve? Was it imprinted into our DNA for us to be this way? Was that it? Were we doomed right from the very beginning to be this kind of species?

My low mood somewhat lifted when I swiped the stolen card across the door's access panel and said metal door opened with a mechanical whirr -_these people are rich, why does it make a sound when it opens?_-, revealing two see-through walls on either side of the lengthy room. _Seriously, this thing goes on for at least fifty metres…_

Slipping in, I allowed myself a quick look around, before I cautiously peered through the reinforced glass and was instantly met with the glaring garnet gaze of a wolf with fur a cross between pale pink and orange -_light_ _salmon?_-, and socks on its -I couldn't tell its gender with just one glance, and I flat out refused to check the old-fashioned way- forelegs that were a light purple in colouring. Behind it were two more, one a chocolaty brown that cowered away in the back, and the other somewhere between pure white, and the palest blue I'd ever seen.

The first wolf to catch my notice easily regained it by throwing itself at the glass wall, causing my body to reflexively flinch away, and then tense up as the wolf backed off with a growl to stand protectively in front of those behind, ears flattened, body low, and deadly fangs bared menacingly.

The brown one whimpered, limping further back into the safety of the shadows, quite clearly injured.

"Yeah… hi… are you alright?" A growl met my awkward question. "You're right, that was a dumb question." I rubbed at the back of my neck, eyes transferring from the brown timid wolf, to the cynical salmon one. "Listen, I'm going to get you out of here, but I have something to ask of you in return, okay?"

I watched as it contemplated my offer, weighing it against its other -limited- list of options. I could see how hard it was for it to believe my words, how it wondered if I was speaking the truth, or if this was just some cruel trick I was playing because I was human.

It nodded.

That's why I'd tacked on that bit about wanting something in return. If they thought that they could be of use to me, then it would be easier for them to believe what I said, and if I _was_ planning on using them, they'd knew I'd make damn sure to uphold my end of the deal. Even if I didn't, they probably figured that it wouldn't be too hard to tear my head from my body and find the exit themselves.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I smiled. "Just please don't eat me. I can assure you that I taste terrible."

The wolf gave me an odd look, taken aback by my request.

I may have been feeling a lot more confident with myself now, so that's why when the access system asked for a pin number that I didn't have, flat out rejecting my stolen card, I gritted my teeth. There wasn't any time for this!

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, waited several seconds, and then exhaled. I had to remain calm; getting angry would just make me distracted and then I'd be of use to no one.

On the bright side, at least this was the highest level of security in this room. Now that I thought about it, that was pretty pathetic, really. All this money wasted of big doors and a fancy lab, and they couldn't even make sure that their test subjects were being properly stored within the most secure environment money could buy? Wow. Did they think that because of the wolf genes, their beloved experiment wouldn't be smart enough to figure something out? Did they not learn from last time?

Opening my eyes, I assessed the device.

The model was a familiar one, something richer corporations had preferred over a year ago because of how it let out this ear-splitting screeching sound if you made even one mistake during the reconfiguration process or if you got the pin wrong more than once. It'd been created by a PSD set on weaponry enhancement formed of ex-war veterans who'd served in Afghanistan. It was actually a neat piece of tech that didn't deserve what was coming. "The hard way it is…" I muttered, staring at the numbers regretfully.

Though I'd need some help… taking my bag from my back, I riffled through its contents, perking up when I found the flat-head screwdriver, internally thanking myself for being so well-prepared.

Though none of their gazes predatory, it was hard to overlook the half dozen wolves watching me from the other side of the room, kept behind an identical strip of reinforced glass walling that left them with nothing to do but watch their only form of entertainment line up his screwdriver's head with a thin ridge in the security access board where two parts of the device met.

With a fair amount of effort, I managed to jimmy off the casing and expose the inner workings of the device, letting my eyes soak up what I would probably never get to see again in this life.

It was a mass of multi-coloured wiring with miniature white number-letter codes at the bases and connecting electronic PCBs, including only those that were double-sided and multi-layered for higher component density. It was _beautiful_.

As confidently as one can be while working under the conditions that I was, I switched both the red and blue wires with the lower numerical coding, and then ripped the grey one out in its entirety.

Nothing happened.

Feeling fairly antsy by this point, I had to make a conscious effort to resist the voice in my head telling me to just hit the blasted thing already. I trailed a finger over the side of the little screen, searching for something, _anything_ I may have missed. A slight indentation in its otherwise sleek structure had me release a breath I'd been holding for a while now.

At pressing in on the hidden button, something beeped, and the wall of glass separating me from this side's wolves rose as the pin appeared on the miniaturised screen. _8697_

Now with knowledge of the pin in mind, I went straight over to the access panel across the room, punching in the numbers, and the glass rose with another _beep_.

The wolf from earlier, the one with salmon fur, snarled at me, ears erect, body once again lowered, as if it were seconds away from mauling me.

"Are there any of you missing?" I asked, hovering somewhere in between the two groups of wolves, pointedly ignoring the way they all looked at me.

When neither made an effort to answer me, I ran a hand through my hair, unable to think up anything that could get them to trust me, even if just a bit. There wasn't much time left, and I still had something… important to do

And then the wolf with reddish eyes made an impulsive move, jaws snapping out at me only to narrowly miss my leg as I tripped and fell backwards into the throng of wolves opposite my attacker. Surrounded by bristling fur and distrustful glares, I scrambled back with a yelp, but then was brought to a stop when my back hit something firm, yet still soft.

Before I even had time to think, an aging hand appeared from behind, cupping my chin in an unyielding gentle grip and forcing my head back, giving me a clear view of the one I'd accidentally collided with while trying to get away. He was middle-aged, hair a greying frizzy brown halo, solemn eyes the same colour, matching his bushy moustache and the beginnings of his beard. And did I mention that he was naked? "You smell like Yu-kun…"

Brows furrowing, all thoughts on his lack of clothing were momentarily forgotten. _Yu…? Does he mean… _"Kan…da?"

Someone growled, and I flinched, realising I'd spoken aloud. _Stupid stupid STUPID! _

Why had I done that? When had I become so lax?

Jerking my face from the older male's grasp, I took notice of the stares… the confusion… the suspicion… the underlying _hatred_. At that, I instinctively lowered my eyes, biting down on my lower lip.

Something shifted just outside of my central vision, and the next thing I knew, there was a furry appendage pressing hard against my throat, blocking off my airways. My hands automatically flew to the arm restricting my ability to breathe, trying in vain to pry it away so I could at least lessen the unpleasant pressure and find a way to get more air into my lungs. I tried to swallow, but I couldn't, and my body convulsed.

It was difficult to stop myself from kicking out at my assailant, panic building up within me as my vision became blurred, thoughts turned muddled, and lungs started to burn from oxygen deprivation. I was trapped between the owner of that furry, anthropoid arm, and the man behind me, whose chest I'd unintentionally been backed further into sometime during my struggle.

I could feel his heart beating, strong and steady, and his body radiated a kind of warmth that was strangely calming. It reminded me of Mana, in a way. Sort of like the warmth of a parent… maybe… It was comforting. I felt myself relaxing against the man, letting my hands drop to my sides, eyes drooping, unable to retain the will to resist.

Then I could breathe again.

When my brain registered this, I clutched at my throat with both hands, gasping and greedily gulping down air as fast as I could.

Someone rubbed circles in my back as I coughed, a constant soothing action that took away some of the fear. Cautiously, I peeked up through my white bangs, surprised to find the middle-aged man observing me, brows furrowed with worry.

Registering this, I gave him a weak smile, hands still at my neck, where I knew bruises would soon be forming.

He blinked, confused, and the circles stopped.

Little by little, I lifted my head, turning back to look at the others. My jaw dropped.

Collecting my thoughts, I hurriedly clamped my mouth shut to avoid looking like even more of a fool than I already did.

In the place of what was once that fearsome garnet-eyed wolf was a furious young girl, her age close to my own, short hair framing her face, and a bizarre dull-green marking standing out against the pale skin of her forehead. But out of all that, what drew my interest was her arms.

The shift was partially incomplete, here hands clawed, fur creeping up the two appendages until it reached her forearm, where it abruptly cut off, its colour the same as her forelegs had been when in canine form.

She was on her hands and knees, face inches from my own, eyes shining with clear disapproval. "I'm currently acting as substitute Alpha…" She grumbled sullenly, as though reluctant to continue speaking with me. "Now identify yourself and your intentions."

Gave fixed to the floor in respect and nervousness, I bowed my head. "My name is Allen walker, and I'm here to free you."

Not all that surprisingly, the substitute Alpha scoffed in disbelief. "Doubt it. What are your _true_ intentions?"

"I'm here to help," I insisted, keeping my voice steady.

"Let's say you are," she theorised, pulling back to sit cross-legged on the ground, clawed hands in her lap. "Then what is it you want from us?"

Mouth dry, I had to make a conscious effort not to look up. "Just… for you to not kill me before I can get you out of here."

Even if I wasn't looking directly at her, there were still some things I could better pick up on now that I wasn't being choked half to death. For instance, it appeared that she had another set of those green markings trailing down her chest, before forming the perimeter of two identical rectangles at her outer thighs.

Seeing her remaining silent for now, I smiled. "You don't have to trust me, but can you at least wait until we're out before you do anything too drastic?"

When she finally spoke again, it was in a troubled tone. "Why do you smell like _him_?"

I took it she meant Kanda, because aside from him, the only other male I'd been around as of late was the red-head. "Kanda's here. Lavi and Lena are, too. They're making sure no one comes in, but we'll need to get going soon."

Only after I'd finished speaking did I stop to wonder if it really was alright for me to act with such familiarity towards the three waiting outside. It was still a new thing for me to refer to Lenalee as 'Lena', something that had taken much persuasion and encouragement on her part.

From the looks everyone exchanged, it was fair to say that they'd all picked up on it.

The girl gritted her teeth. "Fine, we'll go. But if you're lying, you're dead, brat," she spat. Looking me up and down, she seemed to deflate a bit at what she saw, and sighed. "I'm Fou."

Now that she wasn't so angry, I pushed myself up from the floor to my feet, though taking care to do so slowly, not wanting to startle the wolves by making any sudden movements. I liked my head attached to my neck, thankyouverymuch! "It's nice to meet you," I said, more to keep up social pleasantries than anything else.

She rolled her eyes and stood, too "Whatever."

And that's when it hit me. I'd only just noticed now that there weren't any foreseeable near-death situations to be dealt with, and doing so made me immensely uncomfortable. "C-could you please…um… transform back now?"

Eyebrows lifting, those clawed hands went to her hips. "Why?"

Me cheeks burned, eyes darting around the stark white room, needing to look somewhere- _anywhere_ that wasn't at Fou. "It's just… you're not… wearing any clothes." Just saying that aloud had me filled with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu; this was basically a repeat of my first real conversation with Kanda.

And, like him, she _smirked_.

_Is that any Alpha thing?_

Her expression was still guarded, but her posture was more noticeably relaxed. "Surely you're not embarrassed?"

"Are there any of you missing?" I asked, repeating my earlier question, pretending I hadn't heard her own.

"We're all here." Her tone held a humorous note to it; she definitely hadn't been fooled by my terrible attempt at a subject change like I'd initially hoped.

I moved past them, face red, to pick up my backpack from where I'd left it. "Let's go then." Glancing back as I neared the door, I let out a relieved sigh when I saw that the both of them, Fou _and _that middle-aged man, had shifted back to their alternate forms. Then I stopped. "Hey, um…" I fiddled with the cuff of my sleeve, knowing my cheeks would be practically _glowing_ bright red by this point. "Do you think… maybe… you could track my scent back the way I came… or something… I forgot the way… sorta…"

One of them made a sound that vaguely resembled a scoff. Face flushing, I was just about ready to apologise, when I heard someone whimper.

Everyone looked back, straight at that timid brown wolf Fou had been so protective of earlier. Now with a better look, I could tell that it was female, and that one of her hind legs was slightly elevated off the ground, her other limbs trying to support her weight as she unsuccessfully tried to move forward, only managing an awkward limp of sorts.

I took a tentative step in her direction, not at all surprised when she tried to scoot back, nor when growls of warning met my ears.

Lowering myself to all fours, I looked her dead in the eye, this time not wanting to break eye contact. "I'm not going to hurt you," I whispered, attempted to reassure her using a hushed tone toned that I, in hindsight, should probably have used with Kanda when we'd first met. Maybe then I wouldn't have been bitten. "So can you let me take a look?"

She shuffled further away at my words, injured paw dangerously close to touching the ground. The cold metal floors of this place couldn't have been good for her injury.

Smiling understandingly, I held out a hand, gloved palm facing up. "I'm not going to hurt you," I repeated softly, "and even if I tried, I'm sure I'd be dead before I could do much damage."

Her frightened brown eyes drifted from me, to each and every other individual in the room, realisation gradually setting in. Even if she couldn't trust me, she could sure as hell trust her pack mates to save her in case I did anything untoward.

She paused, and then, with small, pained movements, she hobbled over.

"Atta girl." Turning her body to face the right side of the room, she extended her left hind leg to me with great uneasiness. I gently took it in my hand, stiffening a bit when she whimpered, and there was a growl right by my ear. Paying no attention to that for now, I further explored the appendage, not at all liking what I found. "The pastern may have been fractured... Did they not try to fix it?"

The mournful look she gave me was more than enough of an answer. I hadn't been expecting that, having thought that the people who run this place would want their experiments in perfect shape. Then again, they could always just use another.

"You won't be able to walk with that," I told her, pushing myself back to sit on my knees, hold my arms out. "May I carry you?"

She tensed up, eyes darting to Fou by my side, who was glaring at me with uncertainty. Slowly, Fou nodded once.

With a small whine, the brown wolf shuffled closer. I slid my arms underneath her, hefting her up, careful not to touch her injured leg. I could now tell that despite her diminutive size, she was somewhat heavy, but I could still manage. "Good girl. It'll be fine." I could feel just how skinny she was beneath all that fur, and winced. "When we get back, how about we get you something good to eat, hmm?"

She perked up at that, dark eyes staring into my own, only just barely daring to hope.

"Yep! You're probably hungry, so let's do something to fix that."

I kept up this one-sided conversation as our group made its way through the twists and turns of the complex, Fou in the lead, keeping me in her line of sight at all times. Unlike when I'd first come through, we didn't meet anyone. Unless you count that one guy I'd knocked unconscious. So yeah, basically no one.

At a certain four-way junction I remembered from before, we turned right, the hall long and stretching out around us. There weren't door nor windows, just shiny silver floors, walls, and a roof. If I was claustrophobic, this place would be a nightmare. _Or if I was one of its permanent_ _residents._

I grimaced at that thought, sneaking a glance at the wolf in my arms. Her moist brown eyes blinked as they met my own, confused. I think she'd picked up on something being wrong when I'd stopped talking.

I couldn't even find it in myself to reassure here with one of my stupid little smiles.

When we came to the closed door I'd entered through, a small black screen demanding my stolen card, I almost let out a sigh of relief. "In my back right pocket, there's a card that'll open this door. Would someone please get it for me?"

There were a couple seconds of silence, and then I felt a hand slip into my pocket, far too large to be a woman's. In the glow of the artificial lighting, I saw a darker-skinned arm reach out, swiping the card over the panel. This door, unlike the one leading to their room, opened soundlessly, revealing the endless rows of trees roughly twenty metres off.

Not even an idiot could have missed it, so thick in the air as it was: their feelings of longing at barely _glimpsing_ the outside world. They were _outside_. Probably for the first time in… uh… however long they'd been here. Maybe from the moment they were born… or created.

I stepped aside to let them pass, not wanting to get in the way as most rushed past, abandoning all thoughts of reason to just get _out_. Out where the sky was blue, and not a roof of white. Out where that sickening sterile smell wasn't so strong. Out where there was colour. Out where it didn't hurt so much.

A fond voice from behind me had me cringe as it said, "I should have known they'd react this way." My eyes raked over his nude form, taking in the bald head, thick lips, and unseeing clear eyes, a common feature amongst those who'd lost their sight. He held up my card between two dark fingers, cocking his head to the side. "Do you want this back?"

I nearly nodded, but thought better of it. "Yes, please. Actually, could we swap? There's something I still need to do inside."

He considered my request, and then took the wolf from my arms, no questions asked.

Expression stiff, I tucked the card back into my pocket; its next use would come soon. For what I had planned, I'd be needing it quick on hand. "I assume you can smell Kanda's whereabouts… Go straight to him. No detours, understood?"

None of them answered, despite my somehow having managed to capture the attention of every single one of them.

"I'll be out in a few minutes." And with that, I stepped back into the horrible prison that had held them captive for all these years, the door automatically slamming shut at the touch of a button.

I could already imagine _his _response later.

I'd been the one to insist on not deviating from the plan.

Well, technically, this _was_ part of the plan. _My_ plan. The one I didn't tell them about.

…Yeah, Kanda was _so_ gonna kill me for this.

()()()

_I accidentally made Allen a tech freak… that wasn't supposed to happen. Nor was this supposed to be so long… what happened to '1500 words'? Seriously though, please don't be expecting a chapter this long. Ever. _

_*Looks at chapter again* Ah, misanthropy and depression. So easy to write… Biological and technological stuff on the other hand… *shudders* Sorry if I got anything wrong; Bio and tech ain't my strongpoints. _

_Also, what I described was NOT the correct way to get past a pin panel security access board, so please don't try. You WILL fail and be taken to jail. (Unless you actually know how to do it, then good for you!) Seriously though, I understood most of it, but hallway through I just… lost it._

_**Canidae**__ – Type of carnivore, including domestic dogs, wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and many other dog-like mammals._

_**Lupus**__ – Wolf_

_**Homo**__ – Basically the same as Canidae except with primates (this includes humans)_

_**Genus**__ – The first part of binomial species name (E.g. – 'Homo' from 'Homo Sapiens' is the Genus) that biologically classifies living and/or fossil-type organisms._

_It basically all means that out of the Canidae, the type being experimented on were wolves (lupus), and 'Homo' was the Genus used. _

()()()

Previous Chapter – **Fires or Fakes?**

Next Chapter – **Ostentatious or Astute? **


	14. Chapter 13 - Ostentatious Or Astute?

**Chapter 13 – Ostentatious or Astute? **

()()()

**Yu Kanda**

Kanda stood, tense, denying any and all worry that he felt for the safety of his pack. He'd wanted to deal with this situation himself, to have everyone rely on him, but knew that things were already far from within his level of control.

Chalk it up to one of his -not that he'd ever admit it- weaknesses, or maybe even just inexperience. Both were a possibility.

However, if this worked and everyone came out _relatively_ unscathed, Kanda promised himself that he'd give at least the same amount of trust he had for his pack mates to the human he now planned on initiating into his pack. There'd be no more second guessing the Moyashi's motives. No monitoring his every move. Trust in the truest sense of the word.

For now though, Kanda was currently in the midst of completing the task assigned to him by said human.

_Babysitting_.

Babysitting the monsters who'd made his life a living hell since the moment of his birth. Or _creation_… that was probably the better term… since he hadn't technically been 'born'…

He wanted them dead. He wanted them to scream and cry and _beg _for some semblance of forgiveness. He didn't, though. The plan came first.

The Alpha had admittedly been pleased when a foolish one had tried to go back inside earlier. That hadn't gone all too well. For the human, that is.

Kanda had sunk his sharp canines deep into its calf, and the screaming idiot was dragged a fair distance away, becoming an example of what would happen if any of the others tried to run.

So far, no one else had. They just all stood together, each and every one of them, the stupid creatures that they were, seeking security in larger numbers, waiting to see what would happen next, all the while trying not to aggravate any of the three wolves present. The only time that any of them looked towards the injured human was at most once, and that had been in fear. Not one of them had shown any signs of worry of seemed to care. They were probably thinking things like _what's going to happen next _and _how am I supposed to get out of this_, thoughts all centred around themselves. Selfish beasts.

It made Kanda sick.

And there was yet another reason as to why he hated humans as much as he did.

Greedy. Self-centred. Idiotic. Cruel. What right did they have to toy with lives as they did?

Kanda contemplated going against the Moyashi's instructions, instincts urging him to put them down.

That _was_ the term, wasn't it?

If they saw fit to _put animals out of their misery_ because it was _for their own good _or _they're dangerous_, then shouldn't the opposite also be fair?

That logic made perfect sense to his animalistic half. What was that saying humans seemed so fond of? An eye for an eye, right?

Well, right now, what the Alpha wanted was a lot more than an eye.

Face the picture of fury incarnate, Kanda crouched, lip curling back to reveal razor-sharp fangs, looking at the group of white-coated humans as if they were everything wrong with this world. And to him, they were.

He growled, the sound low and menacing. It was more than enough to convince the humans that this was it; they were going to die.

The commotion off in the direction of the large white compound snapped him from his deadly musings, head whipping towards the sounds as an assortment of painfully familiar scents assaulted his nose.

A howl, loud and expectant as any, ripped through the not-so-quiet darkness. It was soon joined by another, and another, and then a whole lot more, making the ever-present sound of the building's siren seem dwarfed in comparison.

His ears twitched, and the Alpha howled back, giving away his location to those who'd called out. Any thoughts of massacre or spite he'd had only moments earlier were gone, replayed with just a smidge -like, not even a fraction of a sliver- of _hope_.

He cocked his head, concentrating on the smells around him. Much to his relief, the only scent of blood in the air belonged to the unintelligent human from before.

That relief, however, had nothing on how he felt when he saw them. Safe. In front of him. All of them. Safe. Not one missing. Alive.

Saf_e_Sa_f_eS_a_fe_S_afe_Safe_.

His mind always went back to that word, each individual letter repeating itself again and again, the whole thing now a mantra in his head.

There was Fou, one of his Betas -and substitute Alpha in case of any unforeseen events-, in the lead. Her red eyes were already locked onto him, having already spotted her Alpha. And the humans too, no doubt.

Following up further behind was Marie in human form, carrying Miranda in his arms, the two of them surrounded by the rest. It was satisfying to know that even in his extended absence they were all still protecting each other.

Daisya very nearly bowled Kanda over, the energetic wolf's exuberance at an all-time high. After all this time, the Alpha could say with certainty -and yes, this was _another_ thing he'd never readily admit- that even the sight of those purple tufts of fur below the Delta's eyes that stood out ridiculously against the dark brown coat that covered the rest of said Delta's form didn't annoy him as much as they once would have. Again, Yu Kanda would only ever admit this over his cooling dead carcass, and even then, he'd be dead, so that secret would be taken with him to wherever the hell he was going after death.

On the other hand, what _did_ bowl Kanda over was the next dozen wolves who all wanted _AlphaAlphaAlpha_, because Alpha was good. Alpha meant safe. Alpha meant home.

'Squished' was an adequate way to describe how he felt right now. Lost in a sea of fur, it took all Kanda had not to snap at his pack mates as they all rubbed up against him, imprinting his scent back into their restless minds. He knew what they needed, so he endured in silence, waiting for them to finish, using every last shred of patience he could muster.

It didn't surprise him one bit that the only two not suffocating him were Fou, who had too much pride to do so, and Komui, who went straight for Lenalee.

In amidst the mass of the therianthropic hounds, Kanda's body went from wolf to human, muscles and bones shifting around within him to accommodate the different form. He pushed away the muzzle of a wolf whose wet nose was really beginning to irritate him, rolling his eyes as they whined at the loss of contact.

Kanda stood, ignoring how the others still continued to rub against his legs. He looked around for the Moyashi, and then only just now noticed their human companion's absence. His blood went cold as he realised that his focus had been on the wolves in the initial sweep of the pack and therefore hadn't even been looking for the boy.

Dark eyes narrowing, the Alpha crouched down to meet Fou at eye-level. "Where's the Moyashi?"

She followed Kanda's example and shifted, furred face becoming smooth and virtually hairless, expression one of surprise. "The human?" At Kanda's nod, she pointed back at the building with a claw. "He said there was something he had to do."

Angry. Annoyed. Actually, maybe _pissed_ was better… Well, Kanda was definitely feeling pissed right about now. Why? Because that _brat _hadn't even been able to stick to his own goddamn plan. Scowling, he silently vowed to punish the boy for that later. Punish and make sure that the idiot knew what happened to those stupid enough to make Yu Kanda _pissed_.

Fou flinched back at Kanda's glare, not understanding her Alpha's anger.

"What could he possibly-" Kanda began in a low mutter, only to be cut off by a gigantic _sound_.

Many heads -both human and otherwise- whipped towards it, and Kanda's eyes widened, bright hot oranges reflecting and flickering in his orbs of blue as the building's alarm gave one last dying screech before ceasing altogether.

**Allen Walker**

The computer room had been difficult enough to find, even though I'd vaguely remembered seeing it on my way through the building on my first time thorough.

Right now, though, I was watching the little black percentage on the screen grow larger every couple seconds, willing it to go faster. I only had about twenty minutes left.

**[16%]**

The rediversion of funds would take a short while. It needed time to process the command and load.

The body of a guard slumped in one of those wheel-able office chairs behind me. I'd had to knock him out earlier while he'd been busy trying to locate the fire that he had yet to realise didn't exist.

Using the excess time, I pulled out half of my bag's contents and set up four reasonably-sized clay blocks side by side. They'd costed me about seventy-five dollars as a whole, and hadn't been all that hard to get my hands on: Anita knew a guy.

I paused to glance up at the screen, pleased with the computer's progress.

**[49%]**

It must've been one of the pros of having such a high-tech CPU.

_What I wouldn't do for one of these…_

The keyboard was large, with the monitor taking up more than three quarters of the far wall and casting an eerie blue glow over the room. Cords connected it to many other smaller devises, ranging from a freakishly slim phone, to a whole lot of laptops that all would have cost a small fortune.

The memory and processing speeds on this stuff would be amazing. Like, this-will-be-the-first-and-last-time-someone-like-me-will-ever-see-it-again amazing. Just like practically everything else on this joint.

To the side were rows and rows of Blue Gene/Q, the third design of its series that apparently ran at around 1.6 GHz. Within would be the processor and chips and cooling agents an-

Okay, now its presence was just teasing me. It was _so_ hard to ignore the tech when it was just _sitting there_. Waiting. _For me_.

But I had a job to do. A job that did not involve Blue Gene/Q supercomputer cabinets that could operate at up to around 20 PFLOPS-

This was torture.

Pure, unadulterated torture.

I sullenly continued on with the crushing of the pyrotechnic fuse blasting cap's base around the fuse and crimping it into place, careful to hold it away from my face as I did so; the guy I'd bought this stuff from had warned me enough about what could go wrong if I didn't, and I was most certainly attached to _all_ my body parts.

These blasting caps, despite being the oldest, had taken a large chunk out of my budget. But it'd be worth it. Not only were they the simplest to use, but also the only type with an inbuilt delay.

My eyes flickered back up to the screen, widening slightly at the sight of the number up there flashing boldly as if begging for my attention.

**[100%]. **

I stood, ready to leave now that my sole reason for remaining was gone, but then a nagging voice in the back of my head made me stop. Hesitantly, and going against my instincts and all I'd ever been taught, I turned back around. Groaning quietly to myself, I hurriedly unplugged the nearest laptop from the many attached cords and slipped it into my backpack, angry with myself for giving in.

_There's definitely a good reason for me taking this… _I tried to convince myself as I fast-walked back through the corridors, pulling the unconscious guard behind me on his chair. _Not a klepto… not a klepto…_

Surely one computer wouldn't matter. Besides, it wasn't like this place was going to be around long enough to miss it.

On my way through, I very nearly tripped over the body of the cleanly-shaven guy I'd left unconscious earlier. Thank God I didn't; this was a _really good_ laptop.

Staring at the man blankly for a moment or so, I let out a sigh and grabbed him by the collar of his spiffy white coat. He was heavy, but hauling him on top of the guard and dragging them both through the compound was manageable.

Everything was going well. Except when I got lost. Which I did. Right now. When I didn't actually have any time available for me to _get_ lost.

My non-existent sense of direction was telling me that I wasn't anywhere close to where I'd entered. Great.

Giving up, I kicked open the nearest door, finding one of those roll-up aluminium garage doors on the other side.

From the looks of it, this place appeared to be some sort of loading area. Lavi had said something about there being a place where supplies were brought in via truck when he was recounting to me the details of their escape. I hadn't asked him what these people had needed bringing in, and he hadn't offered to tell me. There were some things I preferred to remain in the dark on, and while ignorance wasn't always the best, I gladly took it just this once. As of now, if it meant one less nightmare to be subjected to…

The metal flooring below my feet was scratched, like it'd been clawed at by something. Or _someone_.

The grooves were everywhere, dull grey marked from continual use. Some were thin, others thick, many small; maybe the signs of a short scuffle. And then there were the ones that came in groups of five, long and deep, symbols of lost hope and despair, a few even speckled with red.

I smashed my fist against the shiny green button on the wall.

The shutter rose soundlessly, but not fast enough, in my opinion. It revealed the outside world, with multiple sets of muddied tire tracks leading off somewhere that I couldn't care less about.

With gritted teeth, I stormed out the best I could, pace slowing when it became hard to drag these two around now that the ground wasn't so smooth anymore. While contemplating what to do next, my choice was made for me by the sound of the phone in my pocket beeping. Time was up.

This was far enough. They weren't my responsibility anymore.

That thought firmly in mind, I stalked off in the direction I severely hoped was wherever the others were.

And then I froze up.

Not having time to even cover my ears to mute what followed, my eardrums were met with the full assault of it all.

Flashes of oranges and yellows lit up the night sky in a giant mushroom cloud, just like in the movies, only much more terrifying. Glass smashed and metal shrieked as it twisted out of place, the research centre simultaneously exploding and imploding in on itself, ripping itself apart from within.

The shockwave was next, its pressure driving me to the ground. My shoulder met the unforgivingly hard dirt below, followed by the rest of my body, with my face scraping as I rolled and rolled and _rolled_ from the force of which I'd been propelled.

Although nothing was broken, everything sure hurt like hell.

The secondary explosion came a split second later, unexpected, and just as loud as the first. I could feel the heat from here, could see the wreckage, could hear the crackle of burning wood, and smell the stench of hardware aflame.

And I lay there, ears ringing, eyes watering, watching it happen.

I wetted my lips, tasting dirt, the sight forever ingrained into my memory.

Soon a billowing cloud of grey and black rose and covered all in the vicinity, of which I, unfortunately, was in range of. I coughed as the smoke burnt my lungs, glancing back at the debris. While this happened, all those flakes of white and grey continued to rain down upon me, covering me in a layer of ash. The sweat wasn't helping, either.

I winced at the sight of those flames as I stood up, not at all fond of fire. It brought forth a whole heap of memories I'd rather avoid.

Like ones of crazed eyes.

And _hands_.

_A deceptive face._

_Blood_.

_Death._

_Loss._

_Pain._

_Helplessness._

That one was the worst. No matter what I did, it always came back. Whether I ate or slept or went to school or even blew up this lovely building before me now, it was _always_ there, reminding me how useless and hapless I really was.

Embers stirred with the wind, fluttering about like fireflies. Hot, deadly fireflies that would hurt if contact was made with bare skin, but still beautiful nonetheless. They were a symbol of the destruction that was.

Of the destruction _I _had caused.

Although, I'd be lying if I said watching those bastards -who'd I'd just found now: yay me!- standing there opened-mouthed as their illegal research went up in flames didn't fill me with more than my fair share of satisfaction. Because it did.

"_MOYASHI_!"

I flinched, eyes only then finding that of a sharp glare waiting for me. Well, that and, of course, a stark naked body. Or two, considering how Fou, too, was in her human form. Guiltily, I trudged right on up to the Alpha wolf. "H-hey Kanda…" I said, putting on a smile, if only to help try diffusing the situation.

It mustn't of worked, because in response, the wolf then wacked me over the back of my head.

"What was that for, jerk?!"

He hit me again.

"Hey! Stop th-"

Kanda pinched my cheeks, cutting me off in the process, still glaring.

"Shtop! Karndah!" I tried to pry his hands away, although failed miserably, no match for his wolfy strength. "Id hurdz!"

At that, he released me, but his glare hadn't diminished in the slightest.

I rubbed my cheeks with a wince, sending my own scowl his way. "_Jerk._"

And then he hit me _again_.

"_Kan_-!

I wasn't even halfway through his name when the coughing started up again. Ending with a wheeze, though quite persistent, the sound was dry, and what was left was a scratchy feeling that ravaged my throat, which, along with my chest, protested against the smoke I'd inhaled.

One hand went to my knee, supporting me as my sinuses burned and I tried my hardest to simply _breathe_.

When it finally stopped, I groaned, then took in a tentative breath, and then another.

Suddenly a hand clamped down hard around my forearm, yanking me up.

That glare of Kanda's had yet to dissipate, although I _could_ see that small smidge of worry he'd tried to hide.

"What did you _do_?"

To answer his question, I pointedly looked over at the remains of what was once a building.

"That _wasn't_ part of the plan," he growled, the worry in his eyes now gone, not a trace of it left.

"It was…" His hand tightened when I trailed off, and I gasped. "M-my plan!" His grip went tighter still. "Let go! You're hurting me! K-Kanda!"

He withdrew his hand, staring at it confusedly. The wolves further behind him shifted.

Seeing his reaction, I sighed, and then gestured over to his back, ignoring the throbbing of my upper arm. "Take them back to my place; they'll need food and a place to spend the night."

I didn't miss the way the others tensed at my words, nor did I miss the way they all looked to Kanda to see what he had to say.

He frowned, glanced down at Fou -who'd shifted back to her four-legged form sometime during my 'talk' with Kanda- and then nodded. "Lavi." There was a whine from the crowd. "Take them."

At that, there were more whines; some insistent, some conveying disbelief. There were even a couple growls mixed in.

Kanda's frown sharpened into a scowl. "_Go_."

They still appeared uneasy, but not one dared to disobey their Alpha, ambling after the red-furred wolf who'd have been better suited to being crossed with some sort of rabbit instead of a canine. The darker skinned male carrying the female wolf, however, bowed his head to me. Surprised, all I could think to do was nod back once.

Plonking down, I took my new laptop out of my backpack and carefully opened it, happy to find that it hadn't at all been damaged with all that'd happened. Better tech, better resistance, maybe?

It physically hurt to find that this thing wasn't even password protected, because _really_, _where was the challenge?_ And how could they be so _stupid_?

"Moyashi?"

I very nearly jumped out of my own skin. "Didn't you go with the rest?"

"No," he said, and left it at that.

He was going to give me a heart attack one day. Then again, hadn't he left his pack to Lavi for now? I should've picked up on that sooner. Though, since I hadn't included myself earlier, either, this was fair. "Then are you going to ask what I'm doing?" I probed, typing away at the little keyboard.

He remained quiet.

Sighed heavily, and perhaps a bit overdramatically, I scrolled through a list of bank balances, smiling at the site of about eight hundred grand stashed away in a neat little separate account I'd prepared earlier. The money would have to be moved later and switched to a new account just in case. "I just finished settin' up a virus, so if they've kept any info anywhere and try connectin' with any of the 'quipment or servers tha' survived the blast, the bastards'll get their computers fried." Hacking in had been easy since the servers were closed off and access limited to in-range devices. And guess who was in range?

My 'Black Allen' -as Nerein had so kindly dubbed it- persona was showing, but I couldn't have cared less. The British accent was slipping in, too, much to my displeasure. Great. Now I wanted to show off. _Why oh why_ did my current companion have to be a wolf who didn't know the first thing about CPUs and network hacking methods?

Checking over my shoulder, I see Kanda still standing there. "You can leave."

He arched a brow. "I'm not leaving any of my pack."

That stopped me. Glancing around, it's easy to see that the only ones here other than the whole group of scientists mourning the loss of years' worth of research is Kanda and I. No other wolves. Not one. "But there's no one left."

The expression on his face is telling me that he thinks I'm a complete idiot.

"What?" I mutter defensively, looking back down at the laptop. "Everyone's gone now; they're on their way home."

_To _my_ home. Not theirs._

_They'll leave soon enough._

_And I'll be alone again. _

_Because _no one_ ever stays._

I bit my lip, wishing my thoughts would quieten down. I didn't want to think about that just yet.

Back to Kanda, he's shaking his head exasperatedly, as though having just dealt with an incredibly dense child. "Forget it."

Rolling my eyes, I continued on with my work, opening a separate tab for something else I'd had planned. "Glad that we've settled this. Now leave."

"I'm not leaving," he shot back.

I considered arguing, but thought better of it. I was basically done, anyway. Snapping tha laptop lid closed, I tucked the precious piece of hardware away into my backpack, alongside the other laptop I'd brought with me from home. "We can leave now. I've sent out an S.O.S to the FBI; they'll have a field day with this."

Which was why we had to leave.

Hacking was illegal. Stealing was illegal. Breaking-and-entering was illegal. Practically everything I'd done today was illegal.

It was best that I was nowhere near this when they finally got here.

"Did anything happen?"

I automatically thought back to nearly being choked to death, internally debated on whether or not to mention it, and then shrugged. "Nothing much."

Suddenly there was a hand on my head, big and warm, patting me like I was some kind of puppy deserving of praise.

Seeing my shock, Kanda pulled away. "Lets' go." He wasn't looking at me, and there was a scowl on his face.

Where he'd touched was still warm and it tingled strangely. I felt myself smile. "Yeah…"

…

We'd began running over twenty minutes ago, though, for some reason I couldn't even begin to comprehend, Kanda had remained in his human form. What confused me even more was that he kept looking at me over his shoulder.

Twigs snapped under my feet. Leaves rustled. Errant branches snagged at my clothing as we whipped by, stinging my face as they connect with the bare flesh.

I nearly rolled my ankle at a couple of miles in when my foot slipped on a wet downwards slope. My saving grace -after I'd given out a rather undignified yelp- came in the form of two strong arms that wrapped protectively around my waist and pulled me close.

Kanda's expression was unreadable, though barely seeable in the darkness, and he wouldn't let me go 'til my heartbeats had steadied. It was a very awkward half minute.

The adrenaline that'd once pumped strong through my veins was slowly leaving me, the aftereffects of faded tension and demanding exercise draining me of my energy.

When he _did_ finally let go, he then took my hand in his and turned, dragging me behind him as our run began anew.

It was incredibly dark here, even though I'd already gotten used to the lack of light. Kanda was that of a vague shape of black, as were the trees and just about everything else. I was silently thankful for his guiding hand. Without him here with me right now, I probably -there was actually no 'probably' about it- would've gotten lost.

And then there was a pang in my side; the indication of a stitch. I stubbornly pretended not to feel it, blatantly ignoring the slight pain. Mind over matter.

Though, perhaps in noticing my breathing had become more laboured and ragged, Kanda suddenly stopped. He didn't do so slowly, nor gradually; he just stopped, meaning that _I_ accidentally ran into his back. Which was hard and muscly and hurt my nose.

"We're resting," he declared, voice low.

I widened my eyes, purposely giving him my most innocent look, knowing he'd see it, even if I, myself, couldn't see him. And it was pretty much ruined by me struggling for breath. "Why?"

Silent met my question, leaving it hanging.

"I'm fine, really," I tried, making my way around him and attempting to pull the Alpha after me so that we could continue. It wasn't really any surprise to me that I failed.

Most likely having grown tired of my arguments, Kanda ripped his hand from mine and then I found my legs swept out from under me by his arms, and the humanoid wolf started walking.

What at first was embarrassment and shame soon became panic that refused to be pushed down no matter what I did. It bubbled within me, alongside fear.

He was touching me. _Too close_. My body. His arms. _In my personal space._

It was basically the same as when we'd all slept together in my bed.

_But they were in their wolf forms back then._

My reassurances failing me, I could no longer handle the proximity of us both.

"Put me down." My hands clenched tightly in the fabric of his shirt. "P-put me down _now_."

"Che."

Stiffly, I looked up at the inky black shape that was him, my pulse racing. "_Kanda_."

He stopped again, remaining silent still.

"Let _go_."

The moment he set me down, my legs buckled, all strength in them gone. My fingers dug into the dirt, and I was even more out of breath than I'd been before.

I glimpsed his silhouette as he knelt down beside me, a hand on my shoulder. "What's going on?"

"I'll be alright in a second," I breathed shakily, leaving his question unanswered.

Kanda clucked his tongue. "Whatever."

…

A few hours later found me sitting at the couch with my new laptop on the coffee table while I worked to check it for anything unsavoury that may've been installed or hidden within. Mainly bugs. Which there hadn't been any of.

I yawned, ignoring Kanda's presence beside me. And the other dozen wolves milling about my house.

"What're you doing?"

I shut the laptop's lid. "You guys won't be able to fit on my bed, so do you want me to set out the sheets on the floor again?"

He scowled, displeased with my blatant change of subject. "Fine."

Down the hall and to the right, right beside the bathroom, was where I kept the thicker blankets, most of which I was now taking from the cupboard. Kanda followed me as I padded back to where the dining room table once stood, and waited while I got down on my knees, spreading out the blankets and patting them down.

I smiled tiredly up at him when I finished. "I promised that she-wolf food, so I should probably get around to that, shouldn' I?"

I yawned again, and sluggishly made my way over to the kitchen counter, and then took the thawed meat from the sink. I managed to rip off the cling wrap, albeit with some difficulty, and was nodding further off with each passing second.

By the time my movements had slowed to the point of me leaning against the counter, completely still, Lavi was already at my side, and he gently took the meat from my gloved hands and looked somewhere behind me while I stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Yu-chan, I think he needs to sleep."

I frowned, shaking my head. "You guys'll wan' it warm. Hav'da warm it…" I slurred, rubbing at my eyes groggily.

Kanda appeared on my other side, one hand using my right wrist to pull me, the other at the small of my back to guide. "Lavi will warm it."

"Mmm... okay…" From here, with what little distance there was between us, I could feel how warm he was, how much hotter his body was than the average human. It was nice. When I saw him leading me to the blankets on the floor, a weird feeling in my stomach, one almost like ice-cold butterflies, had me automatically pull back. "I'll go to bed then," I murmured sleepily, squinting at Kanda through heavy-lidded eyes.

He paused, and then steered me in the direction of my room, removing my gloves -which had become all bloody from handling the meat- once we were at my door.

I pushed open the door and flopped ungracefully onto my mattress, snuggling further into the sheets, wrapping them around myself like a cocoon.

When he didn't speak, I said, "G'night…" I knew he'd hear it, even though it was whispered.

There was shuffling, and then everything was quiet. He didn't say anything back, nor did he wait for anything I might've had to say next.

He just left, and he took the heat with him.

It was strange how I felt; maybe I'd gotten too used to their presence when I slept. That wasn't good. I couldn't go growing dependant on someone else. Doing so was basically begging to be let down.

The ever-present shadows surrounding me seem to grow larger and expand with every second, the temperature of the room falling as they did so.

Hugging the pillow, I buried my face in the fabric, squeezing it tightly. Too tightly.

"…_It's cold…_"

()()()

_Klepto: Shortened term for 'kleptomaniac'_

_I've always wanted to have Allen blow up a building. So he's a techie, a klepto, a pryro… uh…_

_At first, I nearly didn't give Allen that laptop, and then I thought, 'hey, you know what? He deserves something good!' SO yeah, he got a laptop. And then I ended the chapter with that little… I'm a terrible person. _

_Oh yeah: Please do not try to blow up a building; it's probably illegal wherever you are._

_Anyways. This is longer than I thought it would be… Oh well. But sorry for being, like, a month late. Technical difficulties left me only able to use my phone and that thing only is... I refuse to deal with autocorrect. . _

()()()

Previous Chapter – **Ousted**

Next Chapter – **Building Blocks**


	15. Chapter 14 - Building Blocks

**Chapter 14 – Building Blocks**

()()()

**Lenalee Lee**

Miranda's paw had needed medical treatment. It was broken in two places, and things had gotten to the point that there was no other alternative but to seek professional help.

We'd talked to that Narain-human beforehand in case something like this ever happened.

It'd taken much persuasion on Allen's part, but Kanda had agreed to it. Eventually. Only because Allen had no idea what to do if any of us were really injured. He'd said that his specialties lied in computers, not biology.

The Narain-human had taken it… relatively well. Better than Allen had, at least. There'd been a short panic attack, and a whole lot of spluttering about how the crossing of separate genes shouldn't have been possible with today's technology and where the world was at in terms of knowledge on such things, but in the end, we'd said that we'd answer some questions in exchange for his medical services, and he'd agreed.

Miranda had agreed to it because she'd taken quite a liking to Allen. I could see why. He was good to us, and she could see it too, even if this _was_ only the day after their meeting.

Righ now, she was resting on the pile of sheets Allen had set out earlier.

"I need you here. _Now_."

Said human was currently in the kitchen, chatting with someone over the phone.

"There are some things you need to sign."

I could easily spot the others; they were on the couch, the floor, everywhere. Things had really changed recently. There were too many of us, and not enough space. Allen had said something about buying a more suitable house for us to live in.

The fact that he hadn't said 'all of us' had me worried. I still couldn't understand exactly why he'd left himself out.

He was confusing.

We'd grown up in that lab, so we didn't really know how to fend for ourselves out here, in this big, big world, but we had Allen now.

He was fine with whatever we wanted, and I really did have my doubts about him using us as he'd once claimed to be doing. He was too kind for that, his smiles too genuine. I knew he cared for us, even if he, himself, didn't.

Personally, I thought he needed to be kinder to himself.

Allen sighed. "I'll make you a deal. You do this for me, and I'll give you double the usual amount." He paused for a moment. "What if I throw in a bottle of Romanée-Conti?" Another short pause. "Fine! Two bottles!" He groaned, and the scoffed. "Do you even know how hard that vintage is to find?!"

I watched him from the hallway, noting just how visibly stressed and angered the conversation was making him.

He rubbed his temples with his free thumb and forefinger, the other hand holding the phone to his ear. "Why the hell do you seem to think I have so much money?!" Something said made him sigh again. "Just because I agreed on two bottles doesn't automatically mean I've go-" He stopped to listen as he was interrupted yet again. "Well yes, I might have."

The way he was talking had me concerned; he wasn't normally like this. His tone suggested that he was talking to that red-haired human who'd once visited. He'd talked snappishly then, too.

Allen groaned. "So double the usual, with two bottles of nineteen-ninety vintage? No more. That's it."

He leaned back against the kitchen counter, eyes closed, mouth twisted into an unpleasant grimace.

"I hope you rot in Hell," he spat hotly, before pressing a button on the phone and setting it down on the bench beside him.

I observed him for a moment longer, wanting to get a better read on his emotions -_annoyance/weariness/exasperation/anger_\- before approaching him.

When I whined to capture his attention, hovering back near where the dining table had once stood, he looked up at me with surprise, and his expression mellowed. Not happy, but no longer upset. "Morning, Lena."

I padded forward to rub against his leg in a comforting sort of way, when he sighed and crouched down, patting my head and scratching behind my ears.

"There goes about one-sixteenth of your money." Oh. He was still annoyed. "But if you factor in how much the house will cost, it's more like 'there goes _one-sixth_ of your money'. And that's only including the wine."

At this point, I was pretty sure he was talking to himself.

"I mean, who spends _fifty grand_ on alcohol?! Damned bastard!"

Yes. Definitely talking to himself.

…

Komui was acting very jealously when it came to Allen and I. He didn't like me spending too much time with males, no matter the species, and with Allen having asked me to help out with finding a house for us to live in -he'd said that he wanted a wolf's perspective on the matter and therefore needed my assistance, which I didn't mind doing because spending time with Allen was always interesting-, my brother kept shooting the poor human dirty looks and growling whenever the two of them saw each other.

It was like the time with Lavi all over again. And Daisya. And Marie. And every other male I'd ever met.

Well, not _Kanda_, but he was the one exception. Kanda was _always_ the one exception.

Anyway, Allen had bought me clothing so I could go outside in my human form.

The dress was okay, I guess. It went to my knees and was black and airy and didn't encroach on my freedom.

Before that had come the black things called panties. They had three holes and were _very_ uncomfortable.

The bra made me feel constrained, but at the same time, protected. They made my boobs move less when I walked, which ultimately meant that they hurt less.

I told Allen this and his face went redder that it already was.

He acted really strangely sometimes.

…

"My legal guardian will be coming by later. I'll have him fill out all the necessary information then."

Apparently we were at the places where houses were bought. It didn't look like it.

But after the half-hour we'd just spent driving, I was more than happy enough to get out of the car -when I'd called it a THING, Allen had corrected me-.

The room we were in was of average size, and only had one door. The two of us were sitting at a table, across from a stern-looking young human woman. Her hair was short and curled, and the clothes she wore were very form-fitting. The little white square on her chest told me that her name was _Brigitte Fey_.

"We need someplace big, with a large bedroom," Allen continued, shifting through a pile of papers spread out on the table before us. "It doesn't have to be a bedroom. A study. Or maybe a studio. Just something we can convert into a bedroom." He gave the woman a charming smile, something that didn't seem to faze her at all. "We have a big family," he added almost apologetically. "A large kitchen would be preferable, as would multiple bathrooms. Maybe a few spare bedrooms, and a big living room too."

I pulled on his sleeve, feeling uncomfortable as the woman's gaze transferred to me. "Not a new house," I said, trying to ignore her. "They'll smell weird. Too much like people." Humans put their hands on _everything_ when they made houses; a Television called _The Block _had told me so.

He nodded once, and smiled brighter at the Brigitte-human. "Nothing too new."

She frowned, disapproving and confused. "A house like that would be around five-hundred-thousand on average."

Allen's expression turned thoughtful. "It's a bit expensive, but well within our budget."

"And your budget is?" She probed, thick eyebrows raised.

He grinned. "Anything below six-hundred-thousand."

…

It was around the eighth day of house hunting when we found it.

The place was, to put it simply, beautiful.

Its scent melted perfectly with the woodland on the south-west side, and the yard was nice and big. The house itself was spacious, with a second level that had this one carpeted room large enough for the pack to fit in while we slept. The window was higher and wider than I was tall, and in the morning it faced the sun, letting in light.

From what I could smell, no humans had lived there for quite some time. Apparently, according to the Brigitte-human, since this house was located literally _on_ the town's edge, all sorts of animals were always wandering too close and scaring the homeowners. I found that sort of hilarious, because this time, it would be _us_ scaring the _animals_, not the other way round.

It was originally built by a family of hunters before they moved over eight years ago, and over the years had a steady inflow and outflow of buyers.

I could tell that Allen was pleased with it.

Now all that was left was for that red-haired human to sign the papers.

He showed up later that day, finally, right outside the office building where the woman worked and was keeping the paperwork.

And the first thing he did was sneer at Allen. "You've got yourself a girl? Is that why you're moving?"

He didn't seem like a very nice person, but I could tell that he wasn't bad. He said and did _what_ he wanted, _when_ he wanted; that was all.

Allen crossed his arms defiantly, on guard. "It's not like that."

Not listening, the older human took a strange small box from the pocket of his coat and opened it, taking out a little brown and white tube-shaped stick. "So you finally hit puberty."

Face bright red, Allen shook his head, hands now clenched fists by his sides. "I already said it's not like that!"

"Then _what's it like_?" The man mocked, setting the white end of the stick-thing alight with some black plastic rectangle.

I held out my hand to him. Allen had done this before and he'd called it a 'proper greeting'. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Lenalee."

Faint surprise in his eye -I could only see one-, and somewhat taken aback, the human simply nodded gruffly to try covering it up, shook my hand, and then pulled his own back to let the brown end of the stick-thing rest between his lips.

Sighing, Allen gestured to the red-haired human with annoyance. "This is Cross Marian. He's my guardian."

I nodded, remembering Allen saying that a guardian was a person who looked after someone too young to be left on their own. This was the human who would sign all of the important paperwork for the new house since Allen wasn't yet old enough, and the rest of us didn't have anything to prove that we existed in the first place, so we couldn't.

It would be best to be on this man's good side. "Allen is my-"

"Benefactor," Allen interjected, shooting me a warning look.

"Right." The older human's tone was disbelieving as he took the stick from his mouth with two fingers and a small puff of smoke escaped out after it.

The smoke didn't smell very nice.

"Anyway," Allen went on, possibly in wanting to move the conversation along. "The stuff I promised you is all at home. While you're in there," his silver eyes trailed over to the nearby building, "I'll got get it."

The stick went back to the red-haired human's lips. "We'll both go now, then I'll sign whatever shit you want me to."

Again, Allen shook his head. "You can't go inside."

"It's my house," the Cross-human pointed out, letting out another breath of foul-smelling smoke.

"You can't go in," Allen repeated. It wasn't quite threateningly, more of a cautioning, if anything. "It's not exactly…" He stopped himself, looking perhaps slightly worried. "It's not safe…"

"What the fuck have you been doing while I'm away?"

The white-haired boy just shrugged. "Does it matter? It'll be safe again after you sign everything." He gave the man a blank look. "Besides, do you really think I'd lie about money and wine?"

The Cross-human stared at Allen for a couple moments, gaze scrutinising, before exhaling, the cloud of smoke notably larger in size this time. "I'll sign it. Hurry up and get what you promised."

Allen nodded seriously, and then turned his attention back to me. "Let's go, Lena."

Instead of following him, I stepped closer to the older human. Not too close, mind you. "I'll stay here and wait."

The younger's face showed signs of shock and unease, but he ultimately pushed it to the side and asked, "Are you sure?"

…

When Allen left, an uncomfortable silence had settled over the Cross-human and I, one that lasted for over five minutes, until he, out of the blue, queried, "What's your _real_ relationship with that brat?"

I blinked, intrigued by the question. _So despite that rough exterior, he's got a soft side to him…_

Now that I was alone with him, I could tell that he was very different to what I'd expected. Humans were like that. They had multiple layers to them, and the closer you got, the more you realised they had. Wolves were like that too, in a way. "Depends. What's a benefactor?"

Surprise again flashed through his red eye, but he quickly hid it with a frown. "Some idiot who gives money or help to people who need it. They support groups or individual people in certain ways or whatever."

"That's… similar to what he's doing…" I nodded to myself, and then looked up at the male human when I felt him staring at me. "Why didn't you want Allen knowing that you visited him in the hospital?"

He went stiff and chocked on the smoke produced by his stick.

"I was there," I said, answering the unspoken question. "I didn't tell him about it though. None of us did. And before when you asked about our relationship… Allen is… he's the one who saved us. We owe him everything."

"You keep saying 'us'."

I smiled at him somewhat ruefully. "So you picked up on that?

He glared at me, picking up on my question evasion tactic.

"You care for him, _don't you_?"

His expression turned neutral and he threw the stick on the ground, crushing it beneath his thick-soled boots, and went inside.

I trailed in after him, listening to him talk to the man at the front desk. "A brat would've come in earlier. White hair. Stupid-ass scar. A midget. Smiles way too fucking much."

The fair-haired human there rested his chin on his hand, staring up at the Cross-human disdainfully. "Mrs. Fey's office is down the hall. You'll see it."

And then his gaze switched to me.

I didn't like the way he looked at me. It made me feel threatened. If Komui were here, this human would've been dead in five seconds flat.

Pretending not to notice him, I went ahead, having already visited thrice before and knowing where to go.

I knocked politely on the door, just as Allen had done, and waited.

"Come in."

Inside, the Brigitte-human was standing beside an open cabinet. Upon entering, she immediately glanced at me, and then at the Cross-human next to me. "Is this him?

"It is," I said, sitting down at one of the free chairs.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully, but remained silent and plucked a file from the bunch before her.

Suffice it to say, I very much enjoyed the male human's reactions to reading over the papers presented to him.

"The fuck? This place is huge."

"Five fucking bedrooms."

"A walk-in wardrobe?"

"What's with the size of this yard?"

"Two stories. What?"

"That's not even a fucking kitchen anymore."

"How the fuck is he affording this?"

"You're saying he's already payed?"

"How the fuck?"

"If he has this much cash, why the fuck was he so bitchy about two bottles of wine?"

"Of course it's got a porch."

"_That's_ a dining room?"

"I don't even know why the fuck I'm surprised anymore."

"He's already gone through this shit, right?

"I'm just gonna fucking sign everything."

When we left, the Cross-human appeared to be in dire need of the wine promised to him.

I smiled to myself and giggled. "You're a strange human, you know that? Different from Allen, but still strange."

He gave me an odd look, like I'd said something wrong. "Human?"

I was suddenly very nervous. This wasn't good. I'd slipped up badly. "Oh… I…" I really didn't know how to dig myself out of this one. "What I meant was…"

"Master Cross!" Allen yelled furiously, startling me with his abrupt arrival. "_What're you doing_?!" He squeezed in the slight gap between the older human and I, a gap that had slowly been disappearing as time progressed, one that I hadn't noticed doing so until just now. "She's too young for you! Keep your lechery to yourself!"

"I didn't even touch her, stupid apprentice!"

"Liar!" Allen growled. And then he stared at me worriedly, eyes wide and concerned. "Lenalee? Are you alright? That pervert didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"The girl's fine," the Cross-human said, answering in my stead. "Now where's the wine?"

Allen stared at the older human untrustingly, openly displaying his doubt of the other's claims, before hesitantly handing over two bottles of something unknown and a handful of different coloured paper notes.

The Cross-human counted the notes and examined the unopened glass bottles, appearing pleased. "You held up your end."

"Of course I did," the boy snapped in indignation. "Who do you take me for? I'm not you, y'know."

At that, the Cross human seemed affronted. "You don't have an appreciation for fine wine and beautiful women; you'd make a shitty me."

"Appreciation?" Allen scoffed. "What you call _appreciation_, I call _screwing anything with two le_-" He quickly cut himself off, glancing at me and going red with what appeared to be shame. "I… let's… save this for later."

The Cross-human, too, looked at me, and rolled his eyes. He didn't even say goodbye as he turned and strode briskly off, in the same direction he'd first come from.

One second he was there, and the next, it was like he just… wasn't.

When the man was completely gone from sight, Allen turned to me fretfully, looking me dead in the eye. "He really didn't do anything to you?"

"Like what?"

"Uh…erm… it doesn't…" He murmured, troubled, and then sighed. He quickly replaced it all with a smile, though, and took my hand in his, quickly walking me towards the huge cluster of nearby buildings. "We have more to do. I can't be wasting our time like this."

Those words caught my curiosity, effectively distracting me from his last question. "What're we doing now?"

"We," he grinned, "are going shopping. What kind of hobbies does everyone have?"

"…hobbies?" It was a word I hadn't heard before.

"Their interests. What do they do for fun?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, now understanding what he meant. I thought on it for a while and then smiled. "Teidoll likes art." Teidoll drew or painted whenever he could, which, really, wasn't all that often. "We would always be given these different activities to do, you know? They did it to see how advanced we were. And Teidoll was really in to the artsy stuff."

Allen nodded, looking thoughtful. "And what about the others?"

I hesitated, because in reality, I didn't know much more. "Fou likes to exercise… and Daisya likes sports… but I don't really know any more... We weren't given a lot to do."

"We've got about three hours before Kanda expects us home, so let's get going," he said with a cheerful, infectious smile, trying his very best to change the subject without my notice.

And if his hand around mine tightened, I chose not to mention it.

…

I held a small box of paints in my hands, showing them to Allen. "What about these?"

His brows puckered, and he shook his head. "I think a wider variety would be better." He pointed to a canvas. "This?"

Returning the paints from where I'd found them, I thought on it. "Maybe a few." I then raised a large pad of paper, one bound with numerous metal rings. "And this?"

He nodded eagerly, like a child being offered a new toy, and then pointed to the basket full of balls at the end of the isle. "Should we get a couple of those, too?"

I smiled to myself, retrieving four of the balls and laying both them and the pad down in the trolley Allen was pushing around. "Timothy and Daisya will like that."

Since we didn't know of what everyone liked, we were just going around and picking up anything that seemed good enough. Or, in Allen's words: _whatever caught our fancy_.

When we made it to the checkout, where Allen then began to hand each individual item over to the cashier, he grinned at me sneakily. "Let's move this all to the new place, but we'll keep it a secret. It'll be a surprise."

I don't know if he noticed or not, maybe he was numb to it or something, but the human male handling our things was looking at Allen with a mixture pity and unease, like it was awkward just to be near him.

To be truthful, I'd seen one or two others in the store acting that way, too.

He never did say why people didn't like him. I'd ask, but somehow, I don't think he'd tell me. Allen could be quite secretive when he wanted to be.

I helped him carry the bags through the complex, seeing as there were so many of them, despite his many protests.

It was this time that I really _watched_ what went on around me.

There were people chatting animatedly to each other in groups, many around our own age. I found it interesting to observe how humans interacted.

They flipped and twirled their strangely-coloured hair, totted around bags full of clothing and other purchases, with faces full of makeup and bodies clothed with barely the necessities.

"There's still a lot to do," Allen mumbled absentmindedly.

"You mean like buying things for the new kitchen?" I queried. "And for all the extra rooms… We should buy cushions and pillows for the bedroom! Think about it. We'll all be sleeping there, and since we won't be able to get a bed big enough for what we…" I paused in my chatter, realising he wasn't even listening anymore. "Allen?" After a moment of his silence, I followed the line of his gaze to some sort of big white contraption with strings and a strange lid, which sat behind a display in the window of a shop containing oddly shaped brown and black things with more strings and metal disks. "Allen?" I poked him in the shoulder.

He flinched, looking guilty and vaguely embarrassed at having been caught staring.

I pointed to what he'd been looking at earlier. "What is that?"

Paling to an almost deathly shade of white, he shook his head from side to side. "N-nothing!"

"Do you want it?"

"No." He tried to walk away, seeming pretty insistent for someone who claimed it to be 'nothing'.

I stayed where I was, and, after realising that I had no plans of moving, he cautiously returned. "If you want it, you should get it."

"B-but I don't want it!" He cried, being the annoyingly obstinate person that he was.

"Why?" In my opinion, he was just being difficult and stubborn.

"Because I've already bought something for myself," he tried, taking a different approach.

_A laptop cord doesn't count…_

I smiled at him, innocently as I could. "Then _I _want it."

Caught off guard he stammered, "W-what? Do you e-even know what it i-is?"

"Nope," I answered happily, smile growing when a white eyebrow twitched.

"Then _why_ exactly do you want it?"

That should've been obvious. "So you'll buy it."

As if sensing that I wasn't planning on giving in, Allen set the bags down by his feet, and then pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. "You can't want it for that reason alone."

"So you're not going to get it for me?" Here I contemplated the use of tears, but then thought better of it. I could only ever use that trick once. So instead, I feigned dejection, willing my eyes to drop and voice to waver as I said, "R-really?"

He stiffened where he stood, eyes flying open, and he groaned, running a hand through the strands of silky white that were his hair. "Fine, I'll get the damn piano."

Inwardly cheering at his surrender, I turned on the spot and made for the store. "We can put it in the new house and then you'll be able to show me what it does."

He remained oddly quiet, so I stopped and once again faced him, only to see him giving me this strange look.

"What? Is something wrong?"

Allen sighed deeply, picking up the bags he'd put down earlier. "It's just…I guess that means I'll be visiting you guys a lot."

I frowned, this time staying where I was. "You'll be living there, so what do you mean about visiting?"

He slowly shook his head, confusion practically radiating off of him. "But I'm not coming with you…"

The warmth in my heart, that which had been present up until now, withered.

"I mean, why would I? I'm not part of your pack, and when I do visit, I'll just be disturbing everyone. It's best if I stay away."

Allen really did confuse me.

No one should be able to make me feel like this. Happy one second, then sad the next. He wasn't like normal humans, we'd -Kanda, Lavi and I- had already figured this out. He was far too self-sacrificing and stupid.

I hated that about him.

"Besides, I'm a human. I'm sure you guys don't actually want me around."

Now _that_ made me angry, because _when had we ever said that?_ I wanted to hit him for putting such words in our mouths.

However, that wasn't _my_ job. Teaching him that kind of lesson was something best left to Kanda.

**Allen Walker**

I tugged down at the collar of my shirt to check my reflection. Actually, to be more specific, I did it to examine the overlapping shadows around my throat; they were the bruises that remained from when I'd been chocked. Their colour had lightened considerably over these past ten days, making them far less noticeable than they'd been before.

"What's this?" Someone murmured, and I felt a light pressure poke at one of the bruises.

I winced, whirling around and reflexively slapping the offending appendage away, startled, having not heard anyone behind me.

It was Kanda. _Of course_ it was Kanda. Who else would sneak up on me like that and then end up scaring the living daylights out of me without even meaning to?

No one, that's who.

"Well?" He prompted, eyes on my neck.

I pulled the collar of my shirt up, trying to hide the discolouration. "It's nothing."

Kanda grunted, displeased with my response. But even more than that, he looked… unsettled.

"Don't worry about it," I said, smiling reassuringly.

"Fine," he dismissed. His tone made it sound like there was something more he wanted to discuss with me. Something that was of greater importance. "Lenalee talked to me." He gave me an irritable, depreciating glare. "She said that you weren't planning on coming with us to the new house."

After a second's passing, his face was far closer to mine than my comfort zone allowed, and I hadn't even seen him move.

"But here's the thing," he purred, a finger tilting up my chin, forcing me to look directly at him. Like this, I could see that his pupils were small, animalistically so, like when a predator was readying itself for the hunt. This wasn't Kanda I was speaking with, not at all. It was the wolf. And I'd angered it. "Who ever said that we'd let you go?"

My mouth suddenly went unnaturally dry, and I couldn't speak, terrified of what would happen if I did.

"Don't think I'll allow that." It may have been dark, but I could still see his eyes so very clearly. "You see, there are a lot of things you don't know about wolves." He leaned in even closer. "And Alphas." As he spoke, I could feel each breath hit and wash over my face. He had a woodsy scent to him. It was nice. "I bet you don't even know how we… react… when we aren't _obeyed_." At my chin, his nail was sharp, almost like a claw, digging in to my skin. "Unless you want to face the consequences, I suggest that you get used to the idea of staying with us."

"A-and… what are the consequences?" I asked, voice a low, trembling whisper. I couldn't have made myself sound wimpier if I tried.

He smirked.

I instinctively recoiled, my heart beating frantically against my ribcage in reaction to the silent hint he'd given.

He had enough faith in his methods to believe that whatever consequences my actions brought on would ultimately lead to me remaining with the pack.

So that, I decided, was more than enough of an answer.

Kanda could be downright terrifying when he wanted to be.

()()()

_I really hate it when I go over double the word limit._

_So we had a little change of pace this chapter with half of it being in Lenalee's P.O.V. I normally ever do this at most once a story, so it shouldn't happen again. _

_But as her, I have to make this all… she doesn't know what the outside world it like, so it's more like writing from a child's perspective. With Allen, it's like "yes I know big words and I am amazingly intelligent" but with Lena it's more "what is this I like this wait what is that human doing oh wow"._

()()()

Previous Chapter – **Ostentatious or Astute? **

Next Chapter – **Aftermath**


	16. Chapter 15 - Aftermath

**Chapter 15 – Aftermath**

()()()

**Allen Walker**

My relationship with the new wolves was… tense, and… I couldn't really blame them for that. Their hatred and fear of my species was to be expected.

That shy she-wolf I'd had Narain check over was basically one of the few exceptions; she tended to rub up against my leg a lot, and really liked it when I patted her. I was told -by Lenalee- that her name was Miranda and it was rare for her to act this way with anyone.

On another note, we'd started moving things already. There wasn't much of it, mind you, considering that most of it belonged to Cross, so it was mainly just small things like clothes and books and whatever else my legal guardian probably wouldn't miss.

The furniture I'd bought with Lenalee -who I still wasn't too happy with for dobbing me in- had arrived at the new house earlier today, and I'd gotten word from the movers that everything had already been brought in. I already had a rough idea in mind as to where I wanted everything to go.

The piano would be delivered in the next few days, though I'd have to build it myself. I knew where I wanted it to go, too.

There was this one room on the first floor at the back of the house with a large rectangular window that faced South-West, and in the afternoon, it let in a stream of sunset light over the forest some twenty metres away that bathed the room in orange. I wanted to paint the walls so they'd better suit that light.

That room had been dubbed my own personal project, and would be kept locked until I was finished with it, meaning that, for a time, none of the others would be allowed in.

…

I folded my arms across my chest, lips curling up at the corners. "Do you like it?" I was undeniably quite proud of myself right now, and felt more than a little smug.

Kanda didn't give me a verbal response -not that I'd expected him to-, but when he walked past, his hand lightly mussed my hair, and that was answer enough.

I jogged up the smooth path leading to the house's entryway, reaching it before him and holding one of the doors open for him to pass through.

He slipped inside, and the very first thing he did was remove the loose grey sweats I'd forced him to wear -because I couldn't have him walking outside naked-, before making a beeline for the stairs.

I stared at the material, then at him, and sighed, bending down to retrieve his sweats. So long as they remained in their wolf forms or stayed inside, I wouldn't hassle them about clothes. Definitely not after the last time I'd tried to broach the subject to Kanda.

It was surreal.

To think that _this_ was my life now.

The full weight of everything most likely had yet to sink in.

New people, a new house…

_A new house…_

_Big_ wasn't an appropriate word to describe the place.

To start with, the entrance jutted out with an impressive set of dark hardwood double doors, which lead to a wide hallway. Directly to the left was the living room, holding a total of three black leather couches, one long backless one positioned between two one-seater ones, all facing the Flat Screen television set into the wall.

A little further down the hallway, to the right, was the designated dining room, home to four ash-grey wooden tables that'd been pushed together to form one long table, and there were brown chairs dotting its perimeter.

Near the third table, facing the back of the house, was a ridiculously large kitchen, though considering just how many of us there were, that was probably for the best.

There were two sinks built into the cabinets, the latter nearly taking up an entire wall, making room only for the dishwasher, stove, and one ginormous fridge. I hadn't known fridges had come that large until I'd bought this one -it was as tall as Kanda, and if I spread my arms as wide as possible, the tips of my fingers might just be able to touch the sides-. On their own individual countertops sat a coffee machine, a kettle, a toaster, and a microwave, and there was a bin pushed to the side near the door.

The flooring -not including the tiled and carpeted rooms- was a patterned hardwood that was pleasing to the eyes.

On the second floor was the studio I'd converted into their bedroom. That room had a carpet that was soft and lush, perfect for sleeping on. I'd made sure of that: at least I could say it was 'Allen tested, Allen approved'.

I slept in a different room further down the hall. It was a nice one. The size was average, and it was directly above the room I was planning for my piano on the floor below. There was a comfortable bed pushed against the back wall, with two dark wood nightstands on either side.

There were more rooms of course, including but not limited to the laundry, two additional bedrooms on the second floor, the two bathrooms, and the spare room.

Still, to know that Kanda approved of it was a huge weight off my chest.

…

"Why didn't you tell him?"

The salmon-haired she-wolf stood in front of me, nude, angry, and attracting the attention of half-a-dozen lounging therianthropes.

I smiled uncomprehendingly at her, at a loss for what she meant. "Why didn't I tell him _what_?"

"What I did!" Fou's tone bordered on irritated. "You could've dobbed me in!"

_Oh._

She was talking about the strangling incident. She must've been listening in on yesterday's conversation with Kanda. Actually, since all of the wolves had such good hearing, they'd probably all heard it.

Great. There went my privacy.

Paying that thought no mind for now, I shrugged. "I don't really see how it needed to be said."

"But I tried to kill you!" She growled through gritted teeth. "Don't you have any sense of self-preservation?!"

Smiling still, I gave her words a quick pondering, then tapped my chin. "Perhaps. But you weren't aware of who I was, so your reaction was only natural." I wouldn't blame her for that. Not now, not ever.

She looked just about ready to kill me. "Then what about this?!" A purple furry claw was waved dangerously close to my face. "Why _aren't _you _freaking out_?"

"Fou, don't go around picking fights," a wolf -the one with strange deep purple facial markings- warned. He was one of the more playful ones, who, from what Lenalee had told me, was pretty similar to Lavi in terms of personality.

She ignored him, her glare having yet to diminish in the slightest. "It's obviously you think it looks weird. Just say something already!"

I stared at her, blinking slowly, then dropped my smile. "I don't see anything wrong with it."

She sneered, the expression wrinkling the green designs on her forehead and marring her face. "All humans think it's ugly. Go on! Spit it out. Don't pretend there's nothing _wrong with me_!"

"But there isn't anything wrong with you."

"Stop lying!" Her red eyes burned with rage, and if I hadn't already seen firsthand the glares Kanda could give, I would have been frightened beyond belief.

And, unfortunately for Fou, I _had_ seen one of those glares, so hers wasn't as utterly petrifying as it could have been. That is to say, it was scary, sure, but not enough to force me into submission.

Knowing that she, unless presented with a proper reason, would not believe me no matter how hard I tried to persuade her, I wordlessly removed my white left glove, and had to hold back a flinch when the room grew silent. Surrounded by faces conveying varying levels of surprise, I wiggled my fingers, further displaying the grotesque veiny flesh that was my left arm. "Mine's the ugly one, not yours."

She reached out to touch it, lips parted in shock, but I retracted my hand before she could, quickly slipping the glove back on to hide my deformity from the world.

I could tell she still didn't trust me, or like me, for that matter, and this wasn't much, but it was a start.

…

I yawned, staring up at one of the higher kitchen shelves.

Everyone else had already gone up and had their showers. Though at first they'd protested against bathing, I'd made sure to let Kanda know that it was undebatable. It was one thing I wouldn't budge on.

According to Lenalee, the warm water made it more bearable. I chose to not think too much on what that implied about their previous experiences with bathing.

What I did have to think on, however, was the sudden increase in towels.

There hadn't been enough, so I'd gone out and bought more. They were all dark brown; I'd wanted them to match the rest of the house.

I yawned again, and, now on my tiptoes, reached up as far as I could, yet was, annoyingly enough, still unable to get what I wanted from the cupboard. Even jumping didn't work.

Groaning, I took a step back and gazed blankly at the shiny black pot taunting me from above, just about ready to give up and retreat to my room. What stopped me from doing so were the two strong hands that pushed me forward, and then found purchase under my armpits, ignoring how I stiffened as they lifted me up off the ground. "Wh-who?"

"Che."

It was an easily recognisable sound of dismissal that only one person in this house would make.

"O-oh! Kanda? You're still up?" My heart beat fast inside my chest. I found it uncomfortable just being around him, especially after what'd happened only a day earlier.

He grunted, so I quickly made a grab for the pot and hugged it to my chest, relaxing only when he set me back down.

"…thanks…" I moved three steps away and turned to face him, but dropped my gaze to the metal cooking utensil in my hands, unwilling to meet his eyes. "I was just doing some shelf rearranging… because I couldn't reach some things… so I thought it'd be better if I stored them lower…"

He muttered something beneath his breath, but I couldn't quite hear it.

"I didn't catch that…"

Kanda grunted again, and I let my eyes rise just enough to see him staring me down.

His hair was unbound, reaching all the way down to his mid-back, though the front part that framed his face barely brushed the bottom of his tattoo, which consisted of the symbol 'उं' -though I don't know why, since he was Japanese and that particular symbol was one most commonly found in texts relating to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism- surrounded by a circle that involved many jagged black lines of varying sizes pointing outwards.

Kanda, who'd also been silently observing me up until this point, suddenly scowled, and said, "Shortstack."

I flinched, then forced a smile sweet enough to give him cavities. "Excuse me?"

"So you're deaf as well?" He grumbled, glaring at nothing in particular.

At that, I snapped, stomping down hard on the Alpha's foot and forcing from him a satisfying hiss of pain.

Setting the pot down on the bench -with the intent to continue my task in the morning-, I stomped irately around the man and made for the door, shooting a dirty look over my shoulder when he followed.

It was only after I'd made it up the stairs and had nearly reached my bedroom that his hand yanked me back by the sleeve of my pyjamas -comprised of a black long-sleeved wide-collared shirt and a pair of grey sweats I'd found in the back of my closet while I was packing-, dragging me towards the main bedroom. _Their_ bedroom. "K-Kanda? What're you doing?! Stop! Lemme go!"

He shoved me through the open doorway, and I fell, landing amidst the cushions, pillows and blankets -Lenalee's idea, might I add- strewn everywhere. I pushed myself up, glowering at him from the floor.

The wolves in the room all looked at us, some viably wary, others simply startled.

"What the hell was that for?!" I snapped, hurriedly pulling my sleeve down to cover my left hand; I hadn't expected to be confronted this late in the evening, and with my gloves all in the dryer, this was the best I could do.

"You'll sleep in here from now on." It was a command, one that obviously wanted no resistance whatsoever. "And you _will not_ disobey me."

"I already have a bedroom." I folded my arms across my chest defiantly, satisfied that my left was well-concealed.

He mirrored my movement of the arms, only, the way he did it made him seem… rather threatening. "You're sleeping here."

"I don't think tha-"

He cut me off by crouching in front of me, arms resting on his knees, blue eyes simply _begging_ me to continue and see where that would lead. However, that wasn't what made me choke on my words. Not at all.

The position he was in gave me a terrifyingly good view of his junk.

I instinctively averted my gaze, really wishing that he'd revert back to his original form. Or better yet, that he'd _put some_ _pants on_.

The nakedness was… I guess I was getting used to it. I mean, I didn't _like it_, and still looked away a lot of the time, but it didn't bother me nearly as much as it did before.

But, Kanda, the hellhound he was, knew how uncomfortable it made me, and did things like this on purpose to shut me up.

Noticing that I no longer chose to object, he broke his usual stoic demeanour to give me a smirk.

It didn't help one bit that he was growing smarter with every passing day. He was learning, adapting to life here. And it'd only been, like, a month. "Bastard." I muttered. All my was control gone, having been ripped from me the instant he'd been given a proper pack to command. Did that make this another of those Alpha things I couldn't hope to understand?

His lips twitched. "What did you just say?"

I stood and poked out my tongue at him childishly, something I wouldn't have done under normal circumstances. But I was tired and irritated and I couldn't help it anymore.

A body collided with my own, and together we hit the -thankfully- soft carpeted floor. Belatedly, I realised that I'd been tackled.

The two of us rolled, and somehow I was the one that ended up with my arms held painfully behind me and my face pressed to the floor. "F-fine! You win, BaKanda!"

"You don't learn, do you?"

Responsively, I twisted one of my wrists from his grasp and, once again, rolled, except this time I purposely remained beneath him. Facing the wolf, I sized up the arms that'd relocated themselves to either side of my head when I'd moved, taking in the smooth thickness of their muscle and the twitch of a tendon in his right bicep.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, foot hooked on ankle to hold myself in place, satisfaction filling me when he attempted to jerk away. That instinctive reaction was what I used to my advantage, following the movement and pushing him all the way onto his back, flipping our positions so that I was now the one on top, my legs having slid to rest on both sides of his firm stomach. "I dunno. Personally, I think that I learn rather fast." A smirk danced on my lips, directed at the wolf below.

Dark hair splayed around his face, and disbelief flashed through his eyes. Next, all I caught was the barest hint of a grin before I found myself with a face full of pillow for the second time that night.

It was unknown as to how exactly I ended up like that: all I knew was that the movement had been too quick for my human eyes to follow.

**Lavi**

Fou sat, looking down at a resting red-furred wolf. 'You never did tell me the relationship you have with that human.'

'Yu-chan… sees him as a pack mate.' The male Beta buried his muzzle in his paws, drooping tail an indication of his drowsiness.

'And you?'

He slowly blinked an emerald eye, then rolled his shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. 'I… well… Yeah. Allen's a part of this pack.'

Their ears twitched at the sounds of two footsteps in the hallway, picking up on that one set noticeably lighter than the other. As the footsteps became louder, they stared curiously at the door, surprised when they found it suddenly thrown open and a disgruntled human was flung to the floor by a straight-faced Kanda-in-human-form.

Allen then rounded on the Alpha, and the two of them proceeded to argue almost immediately.

Lavi shook his head to hasten the process to properly wake himself. 'We all know how painful it is to be alone. I don't think it's right for him to have to suffer any more. Besides, look how happy everyone is,' he yipped, watching on with bemusement as his Alpha and their human fought in their usual manner. 'Isn't this a good thing?'

Everyone -disincluding Lenalee and Lavi- tensed when the Alpha went down, but relaxed again when the human was forced back to the ground, his hindquarters then pushed down to make him appear more submissive.

Allen kicked his legs uselessly from beneath the Alpha. "Enou-!" he began, only to be cut off as Kanda shoved the poor boy's face into a cushion.

'Yu-chan is actually pretty smart,' Lavi murmured; Kanda's head was big enough as is, so the Beta didn't want this broadcasted. 'He noticed the tension between everyone and Allen, so his plan is probably something along the lines of getting you all used to him by having us sleep together.' The male Beta lazily sat up, and quietly mused, 'A defenceless Allen would make you all lower your guard.'

He saw the female's shock, and sent her a grin.

'Our beloved Alpha isn't a _complete_ moron.' Lavi shifted to his two-legged form, winking at the wolf by his side. "Thought you would've realised that already."

He then directed his attention towards the duo in the room's centre, catching the barest glimpse of a flailing red hand from beneath the larger male.

Lavi interrupted the two by abruptly tackle-hugging the other wolf tightly, and he declared, "I'll rescue you, Allen!"

Kanda automatically turned on Lavi, causing the Beta to yelp out as he was pried from his 'bestest friend' and promptly pushed into a group of nearby wolves.

Meanwhile, Allen used that opportunity of distraction to crawl away from the scene -and hopefully make it back safely to his bedroom-, however, the unfortunate boy's plans were thwarted after barely managing to make it five metres away. He was given a wicked smirk by the Alpha who'd seized his ankle.

"Where are you going, _Moyashi_?"

The human gulped, and was inevitably hauled back, but not before grabbing a pillow and flinging it at the wolf holding him captive, though he wilted when it was batted away with ease and an even darker smirk.

For a few measly seconds, Allen's hopes of freedom were renewed when he somehow wretched himself free, but the Alpha recaptured the bothersome appendage moments later, dashing said budding hopes. Still squirming, despite knowing just how futile his efforts were, Allen shoved his foot in the Japanese male's face, trying to at least land a good kick or two before any further effort on his part became wasted.

Kanda's dark eyes narrowed as the struggled continued, the toe poking into his cheek beginning to irritate him. And so, his decision guided solely by frustration, he decided biting that toe was a fitting enough punishment.

Allen emitted a high-pitched squeal, before promptly covering his mouth with his right hand, glaring at Kanda, his ears red. "Get that _out_ of your mouth!"

Kanda raised a brow, partially in response to the sound Alle had made, and also because of the order and tone of which it had been given.

He bit the boy again, only this time, he moved on to the rest of the toes.

The young male gave a shrill squeak -much to Kanda's secret pleasure-, his nose scrunched up. "No no _no_! Kanda! Stop that!"

The other wolves watched the proceedings with interest, especially Lavi, who'd been just about ready to leap back in and 'rescue' Allen. He would have, too, had the human's response not been so… entertaining.

"Let go!" Allen whined, his face contorting when he foolishly attempted to pull back his foot, and the teeth bit down harder. "You stupid dog!" He cringed at the warm and wet unfamiliar sensation surrounding his toes. It was unpleasant, awkward, and just plain weird.

The relief he felt when his foot fell from the Alpha's mouth was short-lived.

"Oof!"

The wolf had slammed into Allen's front, and was now perched on the younger's flat stomach, feet pinning those covered wrists to the carpet, arms resting on his own knees. "Do you concede _now_?"

The human boy squinted up at Kanda, fully ready to protest, but then he froze. He couldn't look at the Alpha, and his pale face was stained pink with embarrassment.

"Well?" Kanda prompted.

"You w-win! Just _close your damn legs_!"

()()()

_Look! This useless idiot actually updated!_

_Life burned me out and I couldn't write for a while, so I bought eight cans of caffeine and look at the results! (I learnt after the first day not to have more than one a day so all is good I am alive)_

Previous Chapter – **Building Blocks**

Next Chapter – **School Dayze**


	17. Chapter 16 - School Dayze

**Chapter 16 – School Dayze**

()()()

**Yu Kanda**

Kanda's wolfy muzzle rested in the crook of Allen's neck, his blue eyes on the human's chin. He sniffed at it a couple times, and then licked the boy's collarbone.

Allen groaned beneath the Alpha, arms slowly slipping around Kanda's frame, fingers in the wolf's fur, hugging it closer to his chest like a child would their favourite stuffed toy. A living, breathing, carnivorous stuffed toy, but a toy nonetheless.

Kanda shuddered and wiggled further up. Unlike the wolves, the boy was usually one to shy away from close contact, so this was nice.

The Alpha licked at the boy's collar again, and rubbed his face further in the human's pale neck, wanting his scent on the two-legged creature beneath him. It was an Alpha thing to mark what was his.

The human squirmed, and his white eyebrows twitched while lips moved soundlessly.

Kanda shifted atop the human, wanting a better look, which in turn caused Allen to groan and roll and squish the wolf's delicate tail.

Said canine accidentally yelped as pain shot up through his spine, and the rest of the pack shot up, Allen included.

The wolves were all on edge, looking around themselves for the threat that had woken them, their ears up, alert and twitching.

Meanwhile, Allen was rubbing sleep from his drooping eyes, hair sticking in all directions. "Kanda?" He mumbled drowsily, stifling a yawn.

The Alpha just growled and head-butted the half-awake boy in the face, before licking the human's nose as revenge for what had happened to his tail, which still tingled unwelcomely.

Allen made a grossed-out sound and flinched back, right into Lavi. "Ewwww!" While he scrubbed his face with the sleeves of his shirt, Lavi pressed his nose into Allen's side, causing the human to turn to the red wolf beside him and frown unhappily. "Why's he such a jerk?"

Lavi rolled his shoulders in the wolf version of a shrug and shook his bandaged furry head, letting out a low whine.

"You don't know either?" Allen asked despondently, before sighing deeply and struggling to his feet -a difficult task with Lavi so close-. "Maybe it's because he's Kanda…"

The human stretched his arms above his head, stepping carefully over Lavi as he made in the direction of the door.

Kanda's ears folded back in annoyance. He hadn't given the brat permission to leave. Out of spite, he shot forward and nipped at Allen's pale heels, causing the two-legged creature to squeak and trip and fall.

The other wolves scrambled out of the way as Allen met the floor with a pained grunt.

After he gave himself a moment to comprehend what had just happened, Allen raised himself up onto his hands and knees, reasonably good mood in smithereens. "What the _hell_?!"

The Alpha flinched back as his heart sped up, a strange uneasiness welling up in his stomach. Kanda didn't like this feeling one bit.

Allen turned himself around to face the canine, though had yet to stand. "Why'd you trip me?!"

There was a chorus of growls and whimpers, but they were ignored.

"I asked you a question," Allen said angrily, crawling closer to the navy-coloured wolf.

The Alpha's chest tightened to the point of discomfort. He sat to steady himself as something beneath his tattoo painfully clenched and unclenched.

"Kanda?"

The wolf sat up straighter, sober blue eyes on the human.

Allen, having received no verbal response, stared quizzically at the Alpha wolf, anger slowly melting away. "Kanda?" He repeated, quieter this time. When silence met his latest inquiry, he reached out with his right hand, finding himself surprised when a wet nose was pressed into his bare palm.

The other wolves watched the interactions of the two silently, wondering about the tempestuousness of their relationship. One second there was yelling, and then it was like this. They found it strange.

'My chest,' Kanda whined, before licking the human's hand, his rough tongue laving over the flesh and in between the gaps of Allen's fingers.

"You know I can't speak wolf," Allen said, pushing the Alpha's ear back with his other hand as he rubbed the wolf's head, feeling the softness of the appendage beneath his fingers and the eyes of the wolves on his red hand. "I don't understand what you mean."

Kanda's eyes closed, and he turned his head when the human began scratching behind his ear, the Alpha's throat emitting a sound akin to a pleased hum.

Allen smiled ruefully, removing his normal hand from the Alpha's mouth. "It'd be so much easier to deal with you if you were human. I'd be able to stay mad at you."

After a short pause, the wolf shifted to his second form, leaving Allen with the job of having to extract his hand from the tangles of the Kanda's long hair while he wiped the other one down his pyjama shirt.

Kanda's chest was warm now, pleasantly so. "It's my chest," he admitted slowly, reluctant to break the contact the human himself had initiated.

"Does it hurt?" Allen asked, inspecting the Alpha's face for signs of pain.

"Che. Not anymore. Just feels weird."

Mulling over the clipped information he'd received, the boy scooted forward. "Then maybe it was something you ate. Make sure you're drinking plenty of water," Allen instructed, worriedly reaching out his pale hand to feel the wolf's forehead. After a moment, he sighed and lowered the hand. "You don't have a fever. Take a nap though. It might do you good."

Kanda blinked, expression neutral as always. "I just woke up."

"Sleep if you need it."

Lavi, having been watching the exchange, pushed his way in between the two and rubbed his face into Allen's chest. 'No fair Yu. You're hogging Allen all to yourself.'

'Lavi…' Lenalee warned, raising her head from where she lay by Komui's side. 'Don't antagonise him.'

'But it's fun," Lavi said, butting his head against Allen's arm.

Unable to understand the conversation, Allen simply sighed and ran his fingers down Lavi's spine, causing the wolf to shiver.

'O-okay… that feels… really good…'As he spoke, Lavi's body trembled, and he let his legs collapse beneath him so that he could roll onto his back and expose the vulnerable area stomach, his lone green eye staring up at the human with a silent message.

Now _that_ Allen could understand. He rubbing the wolf's belly, both hands working fast to make Lavi's back leg spasm.

'Yeah… that's good… A little lower…" Lavi's tail wagged from side to side, his long tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"You two…" Allen grunted, moving his hands further down the canine's stomach. "I… only have so much attention to give…"

Lavi felt fantastic. All _those spot_s were being scratched at, turning him to putty. 'Yu-chan doesn't need it… I need way more attention than him…'

Allen's hands rubbed a path down the Beta's sides, subtly feeling along Lavi's body. He noted that the wolf had more meat on his bones; Lavi was nowhere near as skinny as he'd been when they'd first met. Allen could no longer count each individual rib just by looking, and that made him happy. Over a month of decent meals and a safe place to stay had left him healthy. And sure, maybe he wasn't as big as a normal wolf his age -none of them were-, but he was big enough.

'Aah… more… Man… this is great…'

Timothy watched interestedly from his spot atop a cushion beside Marie, his tail wagging slightly in subdued excitement. He envied Lavi, wanting someone to rub _his_ belly. It looked like a lot of fun…

Kanda made an irritated sound, glaring at the wall unhappy. "Isn't it time for you to get up now?"

Allen considered that and stopped his hands, before nodding his head once.

Lavi whined, jumping up and nuzzling the human's cheek with his muzzle. 'Don't stop… Yu-chan's just a jealous meanie.'

"No," Allen said, chuckling softly while he attempted to gently push the red wolf away.

Paws on the human's shoulders, Lavi licking the boy's cheek. 'Keeeeep going!'

"St-stop… wait… L-Lavi…"

Lavi kept licking, trying to get Allen to rub his stomach some more.

"Lav- Stop licking! Not there!" The human faintly wondered why was it that this was how things always ended up. Was it normal for them to resort to licking when things didn't go their way?

Allen curled in on himself, covering his arms with his head when Lavi licked his ear.

Seeing that the boy's shirt had ridden up at the back, Lavi eyed the exposed skin mischievously, before licking it, causing the human to let out a squeak of surprise.

…

Allen lay face down on the floor, utterly exhausted, his face sticky with wolf slobber as Lavi climbed over and licked his neck.

'Not done yet,' Lavi said, tongue wetting the human's ear once more. When that received no response, he took some of the boy's shirt with his teeth and dragged Allen into a roll.

"Too tired to fight back…" Allen mumbled, eyes closed.

Lavi licked the human's nose, and when nothing happened, he sat beside the boy and nudged him with his nose, then looked to Kanda.

"Don't look at _me_," Kanda grouched, sitting with his back to the wall. "Not everyone has the same amount of energy as you."

With a groan, Allen slowly sat up, wincing. He really needed a shower. The slobber was drying and it felt weird… He could finally go back to school again today, and didn't want to be sent home because he stunk -because, frankly, who wanted to be around someone who smelled like they'd bathed in dog?-.

Lavi moved in, ready to begin his '_persuading_' anew, but was stopped when Allen's hand clamped around his muzzle. He was shocked, though didn't move, compelled to remain quiet.

"Today's a busy day," the human said evenly, "so I can't play. Watch TV if you're bored."

Daisya and Timothy were up and out the door in an instant, followed by a cheer -read: a fuckton of howling- as the room was cleared of pups.

Actually there was only one pup in the pack: Timothy.

Daisya was included in that, however, because he was _like_ a pup. As was Lavi. And Allen.

Kanda wondered just how old the Moyashi really was; the human switched between old and young, so it was difficult for Kanda to get a read on Allen's age. Sometimes he was mature, sometimes he was childish, and then there were the times he just broke down.

The Alpha didn't think that was very healthy.

Kanda still had his eyes on Allen when the human stood back up and drifted out of the room, and he followed the boy, watching coolly as Allen gathered up a small pile of clothing from his original bedroom.

"What are you doing?" He asked, leaning against the frame of the door.

Allen saw the wolf-in-human-form, contemplated the question, and then shrugged. "I'm going for a shower because I smell like dog."

Kanda felt offended; he'd gone to the trouble of rubbing in his scent into the human and now the brat wanted to wash it off?

Well fuck him.

…

It was an accident, one in which both parties were at fault.

Allen had gone for a shower and left the bathroom door unlocked, and Kanda had wanted to know what was for breakfast.

The wolf had turned the handle and entered the tiled room without announcing his presence.

The boy had almost finished, and was completely bare from head to toe. He reached for a towel, saw Kanda standing silently by the door in human form, and _shrieked_ like a banshee.

The next thing the wolf knew, a wet piece of fabric hit him square in the face. He peeled it away and stared, his mind identifying the item as a washcloth. The washcloth was followed by a small container of conditioner, and then whatever close was in arms' reach of the panicked human.

"_Out_!"

Kanda slipped back out the door, turning around just in time to see it slam shut and lock. The shock of what had happened quickly wore off, anger taking its place. Pissed off, Kanda slammed a fist against the bathroom door. "Moyashi?! The fuck?!"

Lavi came up behind his Alpha in all his naked human glory, a few other wolves -namely Fou, Miranda, Marie, Komui and Lenalee- following him from their shared room. "What happened?" He asked worriedly, having heard the commotion. When no one said anything, he stared at the door, and then at Kanda. "Yu?"

The Alpha scowled, irritated by the human's actions. He ignored his Beta and kicked the door. "Open the fucking door!"

For a moment, it was silent, then there was movement of the other side, and the wolves picked up on the faint sounds of fabric rustling. Slowly, the heavy door creaked open, and they saw the human, who was red, clothed, angry and… shaking. "Kanda… You… Don't come in while I'm showering."

"I'll do whatever I want."

Allen glared, refusing to back down. Not on this. "No, you won't."

Kanda bristled at being challenged by a member of _his_ pack. "I will."

"You don't _understand_. It's a human thing." Allen _needed_ the wolf to get it; he _couldn't_ allow someone to see him like that. He'd been able to bear their lack of clothes, but this was too much. No one was allowed to see him nude, not even doctors if he could help it. Narain -and that bastard Cross- had done his best to ensure that the only time his wishes were not met was during the initial scan, surgery and cleaning after his… accident. Apparently it was normal for someone who'd experienced _that_ to develop aversions to nudity, so it wasn't difficult for the doctors to adapt to their patient's limitations.

"I'm not human."

Flustered, the boy's gloved hands fluttered around as he opened his mouth to explain something, before closing it, grimacing, and then opening it again. "In… Y'see we… Human society is… Uh… Its customary for us to o-only show our bodies o-off to those w-we're… planning t-to… be intimate… with…"

Kanda grabbed the human's wrists to stop those hands from moving around so much. They were distracting him while he was trying to make sense of the boy's disjointed explanation. "Intimate?"

Allen blanched, face heating up even more. "Uhm… well… that's… I mean… _sex_… but I guess you'd call it… mating?"

The word clicked in the other wolves' minds, and they all understood the basics of the situation their Alpha had found himself in.

"Normally, two people seeing each other naked means they're about to… mate…" Allen wriggled in his place, and tentatively tried tugging his arms free of the wolf that held them captive. He breathed a sigh of relief when Kanda released him without so much as a reproving glare. "And you… saw me… Please don't do that again."

Amused with how things were unfolding, Komui let himself relax. He'd been overly wary before when his Alpha had yelled, but now… This was stupid and he probably shouldn't have found the matter funny but it was and he wasn't sorry. 'It's a species difference thing then.'

'M-must be c-confusing him," Miranda stuttered out, pressing close to Marie's side.

Fou's red eyes were on Allen, who stared mutely at the ground. 'The idiot should have said that in the first place.' They weren't mind readers or geniuses or even humans, so they didn't know stuff like that. If the stupid human didn't open his mouth and tell them, how else were they expected to figure it out?

For Kanda, even though he now understood, he still couldn't see the problem. There'd been too much steam fogging up the space for him to see much of anything. And again, it wasn't like he was really _human_, so human customs didn't apply.

Right?

It wasn't like he wanted to _mate_ with a _human_.

Right?

…

The pack's focus was glued to the TV screen; they were in the middle of marathon-ing the human's collection of Disney movies, something Allen thought was more suitable than, say, Sex-in-the-freaking-City.

That would _never_ happen again. Mainly because Lavi was now banned from touching the remote -the other wolves still didn't know why, because this had happened before they'd got here-.

_Research_, he'd said, when Allen had confronted him about it the first time.

_I'm curious about human relationships_, he'd supplied, when Allen had woken up one morning to find him lounging on the couch watching the next episode.

_I won't do it again_, he'd promised, when Allen had told him he wasn't allowed the remote any more.

Lavi had lost that privilege, and it was even more important now that nothing like that happened again because there was an actual child around and Allen would die before corrupting the poor little boy's brain with that rubbish.

Allen cast a glance at the wolves as he disappeared upstairs, lips pulling up at the corners at the sight of them piled over and around the large leather couch.

He returned minutes later, a bag in hand, filled with books and papers and… it seemed too light…

Oh. Lunch was in the kitchen.

He quietly made his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge, searching for the meal he'd prepared yesterday.

Every single shelf was empty.

Allen felt his mouth twitch as he shut the fridge door. Well, at least he had enough in cash to pay for lunch.

Kanda stood by the kitchen entrance, sensing the human's displeasure. "Where are you going?"

"I have school today," Allen answered after a short pause, relieved to find that he hadn't been startled. Maybe it had to do with how this wasn't the first time he'd been confronted in the kitchen. If he was getting used to this early on, it would make things better for him in the long run. "It's a place people my age go to learn. I'm finally off my suspension." He plucked a yellow post-it note from the stack on the counter and took a pen from his bag. "We're out of food, so I'll need you to pick some things up from the store." Allen scribbled down a short list of what they'd need for lunch and dinner, along with tomorrow's breakfast. Checking it over, he handed both the note and a credit card to the wolf. "Take this. You remember the pin, right?"

Yes, the wolf knew it. Allen had told him many times over that the card required a number to work.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do with the card though.

"Now if you'll excuse me," Allen said, hoisting his bag up onto his shoulder. "I don't want to be late. Make sure no one burns the house down while I'm away."

"Make sure you don't hurt yourself again," Kanda shot back, not missing a beat. "I don't want a repeat of _that_." He was referring to time when the human had ended up in hospital. Along with… before. He didn't want to see that side of the boy ever again. Allen was best staying as a weak little human.

Warmed by Kanda's words, Allen smiled. "I promise."

…

Fou had commandeered a book from the human's bedroom. Not the room they shared, mind you, but the one he'd made for himself.

She was distrustful and wary and had not at all expected this kind of life for her pack when they'd fled, but most of all, she was curious.

She wanted information.

There wasn't much to go on in that room. A big grey bed, two black nightstands, and a dark chest of clothing to the far left of the door.

The book had been left under one of the nightstands, and only contained pictures of a child and a man. Sometimes it was hard to see the man's face, but the child was always the same. He had a messy mop of mahogany hair that hung in his glaring grey eyes, and was scowling more often than not. He was pale. He sometimes stared at that human man with adoration, and sometimes stared at him with irritation.

She had Lavi flip the pages for her since she couldn't; it wasn't like she wanted to rip them with her claws.

In this picture, the child had been given a haircut, and now the two wolves could better see his face. Wide pools of silver stared up at them guiltily, the boy's face a light shade of pink, with smudges of white on his forehead and streaked through his hair. Behind him was the wreckage of what looked like a kitchen.

"No way!" Lavi exclaimed excitedly, taking a better look at the image. "Is this _Allen_?"

Kanda's head perked up from where he lay curled up on the carpet. He glanced around, sniffed the air twice, but found no human. Frowning, the wolf pushed himself up onto his paws and sauntered over to his Betas.

Lavi saw his Alpha and displayed the page, pointing at the brunet with a wide grin.

Kanda blinked his dark eyes. The image resembled Allen, but…

Lavi tapped the left side of the human's face, finger circling an unmarked cheek. "He doesn't have a scar."

Resting limply at the child's side was that unmistakable red hand, so it was definitely him.

There were more pictures after that, some Lavi cooed at, and some he nearly dropped the book laughing at.

Halfway through the book, the pictures stopped.

Lavi went through the entire thing, but all he found was blank page after blank page. "Oh… I guess that's it." He'd hoped for more.

And although they didn't show it, Kanda and Fou were also disappointed.

**Allen Walker**

The normality of it all was rather odd, like everything that had happened until now was all some kind of stress-induced dream. It was the fifteen-ish wolf/human-hybrids living with me that proved otherwise. And the house.

I still wasn't over the size of the house.

It was really big.

I sat down at my cheap plastic seat, unhurriedly pulling out a workbook and a pen in preparation for my first lesson in half a month.

My bag sat by my feet, the zip halfway done up. When I reached down to tug it all the way shut, a pair of leather brown shoes appeared in my sight. My eyes travelled up a cheap pinstripe suit, and my hands clenched. I had to physically fight back a grimace at the sight of the principal's ugly toothbrush moustache and slicked back hairdo. He, as always, had on an expression that practically screamed _I'm better than you in every way and I hope you know that_.

We'd never gotten along all that well. I damaged his precious school's reputation, and he hated me for that. He was just waiting for a reason to expel me.

"It's so nice of you to grace us with your presence, Mr. Walker," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice like venom.

I'd been suspended. Did he expect me to come to school during that time?

I'm sure he would have _loved_ to be the one to tell me to get out of his school. I bet he'd have even lengthened my suspension time for entering school property when I wasn't supposed to.

Schooling all signs of my hate for him, I picked up my pen. "Sorry, principal Rouvelier. I'll be sure to work hard to make up for the time I was away."

I wanted to go home. It was a more welcoming place than here, and most of the people in that house were still suspicious of me. There, I could pretty much say what I wanted to, and was surrounded by warm bodies and pats on the head an-

I very nearly snapped my pen in two as my grip on it stiffened.

I wanted _pats_? Wow. That was pathetic.

…

There was a knock on the door, silencing our teacher mid-sentence. The door was pushed open, and I glimpsed the principal standing there.

I nearly groaned, wishing I could slam my head against the desk. Instead, to avoid drawing attention to myself, I just covered my face with my gloved hands. To see that man not once, but _twice_ in one day… Maybe everyone was right and I really _was_ cursed.

Peeking through the gaps between my fingers, I saw my teacher and Rouvelier communicating through hushed words and hand gestures. Now curious, I lowered my hands, frowning to myself when the principal motioned to someone outside of the room.

A woman stepped over the threshold and into the room, her blonde hair up in a ponytail, fringe swept to the side and covering the huge cross-shaped scar the marked the upper left portion of her face. Her eyes were purple in colour, perhaps a few shades lighter than Lenalee's, and the moment they swept their way across the room, landing on me for a second longer than they did anyone else, I knew that I was in for a world of trouble. My dread only increased when the woman pulled out a badge and flashed it to my surprised teacher.

She had a mischievous look about her, despite her professional dark grey pantsuit. If anything, that only made her scarier.

With sure steps, the blonde woman then strode across the classroom, eyes locked on mine while I tried my hardest to sink into my seat.

My mind was a mess, busy trying to figure out what it was I'd done wrong this time, and who she was, and why she was coming up to me _now_ of all times, and why the principal looked so confused, and what was going on, and–

_Calm down_.

I took a breath. This wasn't the time to be panicking.

She'd reached my row already.

I figured this had something to do with the wolves. That was the only plausible explanation for this; I hadn't done anything else illegal recently.

I raised my head and calmly met her amused stare when she stopped to my right, watching her lips pull up into a smile that left nothing but feelings of uneasiness and apprehension in the pit of my stomach.

"It's nice to meet you, Allen," she said, leaning in with her hands on the edge of my desk. It was intimidating, but showed me that she wasn't holding anything. Was she unarmed, or was this some kind of tactic to trick me into relaxing? "My name is Klaud Nine. I'm sure you're already aware of why I'm here."

_I'm so screwed._

()()()

_Someone requested a scene where Kanda walks in on Allen showering, so voila._

_On another note, it seems I have to go back and edit a chapter because I found a major mistake. _

()()()

Previous Chapter – **Aftermath**

Next Chapter – **Guilty **


	18. Chapter 17 - Guilty

**Chapter 17 – Guilty **

()()()

**Allen Walker**

"My apologies, Miss Nine, but I'm afraid I don't."

Her smile became a smirk, and she showed me her badge.

**F. B. I.**

_Ah… damn…_

"I've read up on you," she told me, setting the badge down on my school desk, inches from where my arms rested atop the flat wooden surface. It was there to intimidate me. "Quite the little hacker you are. Though I do have to wonder where exactly a sophomore such as yourself got their hands on two-point-two-eight kilograms of PE-4."

I internally groaned, subconsciously curling in on myself a bit when I caught sight of my classmates' eyes widen even more.

_Great, now they all think I'm a terrorist._

I knew it shouldn't, but, somehow, her words made me feel ashamed.

What I'd done had been for the right reason; that I knew. I could have handled it better, yes, but time was limited. I'd done my very best with what I'd been given.

That being said, if this woman knew the precise amount of PE-4 I'd bought, then she knew where I'd got it.

"I'm sorry, but what is going on?" The principal asked, slipping his way into the conversation like the snake he was. "Is Walker going to be arrested?"

I could see it in his brown eyes that the idea was appealing to him. It's not like I have any friends. No one cared; they'd like it if I was to just disappear. One less problem for them to deal with.

One less freak.

There were hushed whispers all around our group of three. Some of my classmates leaned in their seats for a better look at what was going on, whereas others were busy sneaking peeks and most likely coming up with something they could add to the rumour mill.

Klaud's face set stonily, her smirk falling as seriousness set in. "No. Actually, I wanted to thank him, but this is actually a confidential matter. Mr Walker, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to talk to you in private."

"I-I _do_ mind, thank you. What is this about, anyway?" I wetted my lips, remaining in my seat. Even surrounded by all these people who hated me, I was safe. This woman wouldn't do anything where they could see. Surely not.

Still, if she did, it would be difficult for me to escape, especially if she was serious about catching me.

I glanced down at the badge. It looked legitimate.

"Though it was unintentional, you helped us out a great deal," Klaud said, and took her badge from my desk, depositing it back in her suit jacket's pocket. "You're not in any trouble. We just want to talk."

I had no trust for her. For all I knew, every word from her lips could be one lie after another. Besides, how did I know the badge wasn't just some amazingly accurate copy? How did I know she wasn't working with those scumbags who created Kanda and the pack?

"For obvious reasons, I couldn't speak with you at home," she continued, purple eyes observing me in turn. "I had to wait until you'd resumed your schooling."

_Because you didn't want to be mauled by wolves. _

I sat there in my seat, quietly contemplating my options.

If this were all a farce, then the wolves would be dragged back to their creators. Anyone with half a brain would keep them in a place where they would never be able to escape from, somewhere with round-the-clock supervision to ensure that their subjects did as they were told and remained where they were supposed to be.

I couldn't let that happen.

I wouldn't allow it.

That being said, if Klaud was telling me the truth, the FBI's assistance could prove beneficial.

Sure, I was doing alright now, but I wouldn't be able to manage this many wolf-hybrids forever.

That, however, did not remove a certain problem that I could not dismiss: were the FBI offering their help?

As things stood, I didn't know their stance on this matter.

I didn't know their plans.

I didn't know if they'd listen.

I didn't know if they cared.

I didn't know if Klaud was actually with the FBI.

I. Didn't. Know.

This meant that I couldn't let myself be alone with her. Not until I could say with absolute certainty that she was on my side.

Not until I got my head out of my ass and stopped making mistakes.

Not until I _knew_.

Klaud lightly rapped her manicured fingernails against my desk, the sound quite loud in the room, which had quietened a great deal while I'd been lost in thought. "Don't you have anything to say, Mr Walker?"

"Well, Walker?" The Principal sneered, acting pompous as always. _Acting_. That's all it was, because there was a hint of panic in his tone; he didn't like where this was going. "Speak."

Both Klaud and I ignored him in favour of staring at one another in a silent battle of wills. She wanted me to talk to her -to answer her-, while I disobeyed, my mouth clamped firmly shut. I would not and I could not give her what she wanted. Not right now.

I could see the exact moment she gave up; her shoulders slumped only slightly as she breathed out an inaudible sigh. "If you insist. Very well. The reason I'm here is to talk with you about the things you have back at your house."

My body stood without any conscious intent, almost as if it were on autopilot.

I saw the frown appear on her face as she registered my actions, and I knew that this wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting. She didn't understand it.

It was simple, really. I did it because I couldn't take this _crap_ anymore. "They are _people,_ not _things_," I hissed, my hands trembling. "Please remember that."

_Things_.

I guess that explained _her_ stance on this.

What that one sentence had told me was that she did not believe she dealing with people, but with animals.

I shoved everything into my bag and ran, honestly not caring that there was still over an hour of the school day left. Or that I practically growled at an FBI agent.

Living with wolves really changed a person.

Outside the room was a dark man with strange hair, wearing even darker pants and an open vest. He saw me, and his hand flew to a holster at his hip.

"Socalo. No."

His hand froze at the sound of that woman's voice.

Not wasting the opportunity, I dashed down the long hall and hurried outside to my car.

**Yu Kanda**

The first indicator of their human's return home was the screeching of tires.

The next was the sound of boots stomping up the short driveway.

Allen slammed open the front door, radiating a hostile aura, one in which negative emotions rolled off of him in waves.

Timothy yelped and scrambled back, ducking behind one of the older wolves, who was tense.

Wolves were sensitive to the moods of others, especially if the individual was one so close. This meant that the entire house was on edge, waiting to see what would happen next.

Not even the Alpha dared to near the human boy in this state.

The three who had known him longest were intrigued, but also quite worried. They'd seen Allen scared before, but never infuriated. Hell, the human was rarely even _mad_.

What also concerned them about this sudden change was the effect it was having on the pack.

The other wolves found their distrust for the two-legged creature rekindled, their suspicion and wariness back in full.

Well, no one ever said this was going to be easy.

Upon entering the kitchen, Allen, having decided to get an early start on dinner, turned on the room's multiple ovens. After that, he pulled out all of the freshly-bought meat from the freezer, grumbling British vulgarities beneath his breath as he did so.

Lenalee, Kanda and Lavi all shot each other different variations of the same bothered look, knowing that it'd have to be one of them who fixed this.

Eventually, after having finally gathered together what scraps of courage he had left, Lavi -because who else in the house was this suicidal?- padded silently into the kitchen, skin crawling the closer he got to the human's simmering anger. His red fur stood on end.

He didn't like this sensation.

Lavi lowered his head, drooping tail gently sweeping the floor as it slowly wagged from left to right.

He took another moment to compose himself, and then shifted into his human form so that he would be able to properly converse with the white-haired boy.

From the living room, the pack was listening in to see what would happen, some even wondering whether or not Lavi would return intact.

"Hey, Allen…" Lavi began, ready to run if necessary. The door was still open and _right there_; he'd made sure to keep his escape route clear. "What's… going on?

Fixing the red-head with his coldest stare, Allen deliberately dropped a pan on the counter, the loud clattering noise that followed making Lavi flinch. "What does it bloody well _look_ like I'm doin'?"

Lavi was out the room and on his Alpha like an octopus, arms wrapping around Kanda's human body and sticking there as if they were made up of the suction cups in a cephalopod's tentaculated limbs. "Yu-chan's turn!"

Kanda had a hard time prying off the panicked Beta male. It was Lenalee who helped him with that.

From the doorway to the kitchen -roughly two minutes later-, Kanda watched the human, who set out the meat they'd bough only hours earlier and proceeded to beat it with something that looked like a spiked metal mallet.

Though slightly muted, he felt the same thing as Lavi had.

The pounding sound generated from the boy's actions wasn't helping any.

If he'd been in his wolf form, chances were Allen would have registered as a threat and he would have attacked the human in order to protect both his pack and himself.

Truthfully, Kanda didn't want to get any closer.

That wouldn't do.

He was the Alpha, and that meant this was part of the job.

"Moyashi?" Kanda said, actually entering the room, and he saw the boy still.

"It's _Allen_."

The Alpha's face went blank at the human's tone. "_Really_?"

"Yes, _really_. Wha'dya think my name was?" Allen grouched, voice thick with annoyance as he gave the wolf a spiteful scowl. "_Moron_."

In the other room, everyone held their breath.

_Disrespect_.

It was clear that their Alpha had just been insulted, and not in the boy's usual playful manner either.

"Moyashi..." The word held a note of warning, urging the human to go no further than he already had. If Allen did… well… Alpha wolves had to ensure that everyone in their pack knew their place. He would not tolerate disrespect of that variety. Not from anyone.

"Can' ya see I'm busy?!" The human snapped exasperatedly, rounding on the wolf. "The door's righ' freakin' there!" He gestured wildly to the door in question, some of the blood from the raw meat he'd been handling flicking to the floor from his un-gloved hand. "Now leave!"

The last of Kanda tolerance went up in flames.

He grabbed himself a handful of the human's hair and yanked hard, causing said human to stumble forward. Kanda then managed to pull one of Allen's arms behind his back, partially restraining the enraged boy.

Allen's free hand clenched into a fist, and he threw it, cuffing Kanda's shoulder. Had he been looking, Allen would have he'd seen twin balls of hellfire in Kanda's raging deep blue eyes.

The wolf growled, though since it was made using the throat and mouth of a human, it didn't sound as menacing.

Lenalee internally groaned when she heard loud cursing and the sounds of a scuffle. She wasn't surprised when her Alpha appeared from the kitchen with Allen over his bare shoulder, the boy kicking up a fuss and demanding to be put down.

Kanda managed to carry the human to the stairs, and even struggled his way up half a dozen steps. His fingers dug in to the human's legs, which were protected in part by the fabric of the trousers they wore. This way, they would only bruise.

"Lavi," Kanda grunted, advancing another step, something that proved difficult with the human on his back beating anything he could reach with two angry fists like a petulant child. "Finish dinner."

The Alpha wolf removed one of his hands from the human and placed in on the banister to steady himself.

Allen saw the opportunity and he took it. His hands found purchase and secured themselves to the banister, holding it tightly.

When Kanda went to take another step, he nearly lost the human, finding himself met with a surprising amount of resistance, like he was attempting to move an immovable object. He gnashed his teeth together, realising what his pack mate had done.

Kanda let the human down.

Allen tried to make a break for it.

_Tried_.

He was caught and dragged up the rest of the stairs by his wrists, his legs thrashing about behind him. "_Let me go_!" The jutting corner of a step jabbed at his ribs, and he hissed.

When the two of them disappeared to the next floor of the house, the pack's anxieties dissipated.

Their human was angry.

However, unlike the one's they'd met before, this one's bark was most definitely worse than his bite.

Their human was weak. Their human could not hurt them.

Upstairs, Allen was startled out of his tantrum by the icy spray that poured down over his hot head. "_Kanda_! Stop it!" He screeched, trying to climb out of the shower. He was fully clothed for Christ's sake! This would make a mess when he actually managed to get out.

Blue eyes narrowing dangerously, the wolf forced Allen back under and held him there. He was getting wet too, but that didn't matter right now.

The two of them grappled around in the shower until Kanda -now irritated beyond belief- shoved the human, who slipped back and hit his head on the wall tiles, before sliding down to the floor.

"Fuck," Kanda cursed, crouching down by the boy's side. He touched the human's head, relieved to find no blood. "Moyashi?"

Allen raised a hand to swat Kanda away, groaning. "_Ow_…" He glared at the wolf, but had to blink a few times to rid himself of the black spots that had appeared in his vision, ruining the overall effect.

Finally, the chill of the room and the water bit into his body, making his bones ache. He shivered and sneezed.

That momentary distraction proved enough of a distraction from his emotions for Allen to realise that all of this was his punishment for the ill-mannered behaviour he'd shown Kanda in front of the pack. He gave the Alpha one last tired glare as he heaved a sigh of defeat. "Sorry for being rude," he muttered, the apology barely heard over the sound of water hitting tiles. The soaked boy then huffed and eased himself down, closing his eyes as the water puddled around his body.

It was cold.

Kanda silently appraised the human boy, who wasn't even looking at him anymore. He turned the shower handle, effectively cutting off the spray of water. "You'll get sick if you stay there like that."

Allen didn't move.

"What happened?" The Alpha questioned, pulling the human up from the floor, not wanting one of his pack mates to fall ill. Even if that pack mate _was_ an impudent, disobedient wretch.

Allen stared blankly at the wolf. "Nothing."

"You always say that," Kanda said accusingly, wringing out the water from his long hair.

"It was just…" Allen shrugged his slight shoulders. "… a really stressful day," he ended lamely, and when he touched his head to check where he'd hit it, the boy grimaced as it gave a vengeful throbbed.

"Does it hurt?"

"No," Allen said, lying smoothly. He saw no reason to say otherwise, seeing as, at most, it would only hurt for another hour or so.

Kanda scowled, not quite stupid enough to believe any of the boy's words. First off, the kid was obviously in pain, and second, something was definitely wrong. A simple 'stressful day' wasn't enough for this. If it was, then the human should have acted like this the day they'd freed the pack, or any time leading up to then. Which he didn't.

"I'm tired, Kanda," the boy said at last, and he looked it. His face was slack and weary, his hair plastered to his head, some of it in his eyes, and his clothes were sopping wet.

Kanda appreciated the way that those garments clung to Allen's body like a second skin, revealing a lot more that the boy had ever -willingly- let him see. The human's shirt was a white one, and Kanda found that he could identify the outline of the human's slim body through the wet cloth, along with stray areas of skin and two pink teats on his chest.

Humans only had two teats, unlike wolves, which possessed eight. Kanda guessed that had to do with how humans rarely had more than one child at a time, whereas wolves birthed a litter of pups that usually required a group feeding.

As he stared, Kanda noted the return of the strange feeling in his stomach.

Was this the effect of remaining in his human form for too long?

**Allen Walker**

I walked to my old room with a massive headache, a trail of small puddles and droplets of water marking the path I'd taken.

The cold water had calmed me down considerably, waking me from my rage/fear-induced daze and forcing me to face reality. It wasn't their fault, but I'd taken the anger of my failure out on them anyway.

That was wrong.

_I _was wrong.

Now wasn't the time to be snapping at the people close to me. What I should have done, what I now planned to do, was direct all that emotion towards something more productive. I had much to do before I could face Kanda with this

In my old bedroom, I stripped myself of my clothes, letting them drop to the floor with a wet _splat_. I'd deal with them properly later.

For now, I simply changed into a dry set of clothes, and then, with a much clearer head, I made my way downstairs to the spare room and unlocked the door, before relocking it again once I was inside.

This room was furnished only with white walls and a half-made grand piano; school and babysitting -pupsitting?- had cut into my time, so I'd been unable to finish anything just yet.

Still, this was a place I could be alone.

I pulled out my laptop from where I'd hidden it inside an empty box for piano parts. There was no way I'd be able to just Google Miss -Mrs? Ms?- Nyne. First I had to figure out if she really was with the FBI; I'd decide my next course of action after that.

It wouldn't be that easy, but I would do it. For them. And I could, too, because this was my element.

Hacking seemed to be all I was good for these days.

()()()

_Merry nearly-Christmas~ _

_(I normally don't get time to update on Christmas day, so I always do it earlier)_

_PE-4 = British version of C-4 (the explosive substance Allen used to blow up that building in chapter 13)_

()()()

Previous Chapter – **School Dayze**

Next Chapter – **Allies**


	19. Chapter 18 - Allies

**Chapter 18 – Allies**

()()()

**Allen Walker**

I'd agreed to a meeting with Miss -not married- Nyne, who _was_, in fact, a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Kanda was still in the dark on this whole thing; I was waiting to see how it all played out before I made any major moves. My main method of dealing with the guilt that came with keeping this from him involved me continuously reminding myself of all the benefits the FBI could provide if they were on our side.

I wasn't a God. Doing this on my own was… Well, it would be beyond difficult.

That's why when she'd contacted me next -thankfully outside of school-, we'd set this up.

We were meeting at the local police station for our discussion. Apparently her office was in the city, near where I worked. That made more sense, seeing as this was just a smaller town with the only places for teens to hang out including the park, the mall and the old arcade. We were supposedly getting a cinema, but I doubted it.

I steeled myself for the road ahead and pushed open the glass door to the police station, before stepping in to the air conditioned room. There were two coppers inside, one at the front desk, and the other leaning against a cabinet. They looked at me as I entered, recognition soon lighting up their eyes.

_Miss Hesse isn't here…_

"What'd you do this time, kid?" The one by the cabinet asked, scratching his bald head through the plain woollen beanie he wore.

The mouth of the other cop with the straight-cut brown hair curved up into a smile. "Whose plumbing did you screw up this time?"

"I'm here to meet with Miss Klaud Nyne," I said, dodging the questions and schooling my facial expression so that all they would see was my usual polite -if somewhat forced- smile.

"So you _are_ the one the FBI are after," the brunet chuckled. "You never learn."

"I suppose I don't."

Klaud interrupted before they could get another word in, appearing with a smile from the hallway further behind the front desk. Her smile wasn't a nice one though, but one that chilled me to the bone. "Mr Walker?"

"Hello again," I said, making sure to great her civilly as I looked past her vampiric smile to see the little white-and-brown monkey perched on her shoulder. I wanted to pat it, but it looked like it would bite me if I tried, so I refrained from giving in to temptation. I liked having ten fingers.

"Follow me, if you will."

I did as she instructed, trailing after her back down the short hallway. We took a right and were stopped by the man standing there, blocking us off from two doors behind him opposite one another. He was the man from the other day. Klaud's partner, Winters Socalo, the FBI database had told me. He made an intimidating sight, with his muscles and crown of tattoos.

Mr Socalo sent me a menacing shark-like grin with one too many pointy teeth, forcing me to instinctively avert my gaze to my feet, where I wouldn't be able to see the creepy FBI agents trying to intimidate me.

Immediately afterwards, I wanted to gag at how pathetic I was behaving. I was letting these two get to me before the meeting had even begun.

Cross would cry if he could see me now.

Okay, so he probably wouldn't _cry_, per se, but I _would_ get a bottle of wine chucked at my head -an empty bottle of wine, not a full one. He wouldn't waste his precious poison on me-, along with the order to man the fuck up before he sent me off to cheat poor pitiful street thugs and drunks out of whatever cash they had on their persons.

I needed to be stronger.

This meeting wasn't for me. It was for _them_.

I took a deep breath and raised my head just as Klaud and Winters entered the room connected to the door on the right. Wiping my face clear of my concerns, doubt and every other emotion that carried negative connotations, I followed them in.

Mr Socalo remained by the door while Klaud took the seat on the far side of the muted grey table, leaving me the chair that faced away from the door. The room was practically bare, with grey walls and a matching floor; it was a typical interrogation room.

I could sense Mr Socalo's eyes on my back, which was slightly disconcerting.

Ignoring that for now, I sat down the seat provided, hiding my thoughts and feeling by quipping, "I take it that your partner is the bad cop?"

Klaud flashed me that unnerving smile again, and I fought back a shiver. "I'll begin," she said, and threw some plain manila folders onto the table between us, just like the cops did in the movies. There was a bag by her feet; the folders must have come from there. "We recovered a portion of footage from the research centre. It seems you weren't careful enough involving the disposal of evidence, despite all the PE-4 you managed to acquire." Her hands rested loosely on top of table -to show me they were free and she meant me no harm, no doubt-.

So that was how they'd done it. I'd been wondering how they'd tracked us.

"What it seems you weren't aware of was that the last seventy-two hours' worth of footage was stored on the cameras themselves. A couple that surrounded the perimeter were still functional by the time we arrived," Klaud explained, opening one of the files she'd dumped and flipping it around so that I could see the names and addresses printed on the paper. "These here are all the potential explosives dealers in the state who'd risk selling to a minor. We had someone calculate an approximation of the amount you bought based on the area of damage. After that, we had to go through and check with all of these people and find out who exactly sold that estimated amount of PE-4 to a white-haired boy within the last six months." She opened another file and actually handed it to me this time. It contained a picture of me in the top corner, along with paragraph upon paragraph of information that made me feel mildly uncomfortable. "Only after stopping by to see if the officers here recognised you did we find that the police already had a nice little file put together on you after that last incident." Klaud looked like she was struggling to keep her creepy smile in place. "Overflowing toilets, was it?"

"That was an accident," I mumbled, cheeks heating up at the second reference today involving my most embarrassing hacking mistake to date.

"You're still learning," Klaud rationalised as I ducked my head, the humiliation still fresh in my mind. "I'm sure you'll have improved in the future too."

Because I wasn't looking, I ended up feeling the sudden change in mood rather than seeing it. When my eyes rose to meet hers, she'd already lost her smile, her entire expression now one of solemnity.

I sat up a little, straightening my posture to at least make it seem as if I was ready for what was to come, gripping the folder in my hands perhaps a little too tightly.

"What you did was very reckless and dangerous," she began, but then abruptly stopped, clasping her hands together on the table, fingers interlaced. "I'll be straight with you: I know everything about you. Your past and your family, and even what went on about six years ago too."

My body went rigid, my throat unnaturally dry. I wetted my lips with my tongue, already able to hear the sound of my heart beating loud in my ears as my pulse sped up. _So she searched me up as well. _

Her eyes were serious and searching, probing me for an answer, observing my reaction to her dauntingly grim confession. "Are you sure that someone like you is ready for this kind of responsibility?"

"'_Someone like me_'?" I echoed through clenched teeth, heart pounding against my ribcage. I didn't want to deal with this. It would bring back the memories.

I _didn't want_ _to remember_.

Klaud pursed her lips and glanced over at the man behind me, before returning her gaze to me. "You know what I meant. People with your history shouldn't be getting involved in something like this. I'm sure things were already difficult for you before. Victims of-"

"_I get it_!" I cut in, before she could speak the word I loathed with all my soul. "So, how'd you get all that? Did you just type my name into one of your fancy computers? Or was it in this _file_?" I held up the folder, wanting nothing more than to tear it apart then and there. My life wasn't something I wanted people to read about on a few measly pieces of cheap paper whenever they felt like it.

"We specialise in obtaining information," was all she had to say on the topic.

I smiled a smile that was both twisted and bitter, by no means pleased with the way this meeting was progressing. It was all I could do to push down the memories and pretend that I was still alright. That I wasn't broken.

What I knew for sure was that I wouldn't be eating anything tonight; not unless I wanted it plastered all over the floor. "Klaud Nine," I said, longing for a distraction while also wishing to rattle the woman a bit. "Thirty-three. FBI agent. Officially joined at age twenty-four. No spouse. No children. Works mainly on more _unusual_ cases, such as the one you're on now, involving the illegal creation of and cruelty to new species. Partner: Winters Socalo. Mexican. Forty. Joined the FBI at age twenty-six. No spouse. No children. Just got off probation about three months ago for violent behaviour. Paired with you because of your talent for instilling discipline and dealing with troublesome agents. "

Every word that left my lips only seemed to interest her more, her reaction completely different from the one I'd hoped. It would have made me feel better if she was at least unnerved.

"How did you get all that?" She asked, leaning forward in her seat until her suit-clad flat stomach touched the metal table, curiosity apparently piqued.

I muttered, "I typed your name into a fancy computer," miffed about having her ask _me_ a question right after dodging mine.

The silence was brief, and it ended with a sigh. "You hacked us like you hacked Noah, didn't you?"

_Noah? _That was… I'd never really heard that name outside of religious context before. "Noah?"

"You didn't know?" Klaud queried, sitting normally again, suddenly back to _Miss professional FBI agent_. "You blew up one of their bases without knowing who…" She flipped open the folder of another one of the files in front of me. "It's fine, I suppose. What's done is done."

I snuck a peek past my own personal file down at the open one on the table. It was upside down, but I picked up a few phrases and letters that suggested it had to do with labs and illegal research. There were also a couple long words I could neither understand nor read.

"It's time we moved on to the main reason we're both here."

I had to pinch my leg when relief took hold of my poor heart and I accidentally relaxed. _Finally. _This was what I'd been waiting for.

"I'm sure you've realised that those anthropomorphic wolves will need more than just you can provide, correct?"

It was funny how she'd changed the way she made reference to the pack after my outburst the day before. They'd gone from '_things_' to '_anthropomorphic wolves_' overnight. I wanted to laugh at her blatant attempt to keep me compliant and composed, but my lips and throat refused to even try. "I have."

"Then what's your plan?" Klaud asked, firing off another question. There were a lot of those, I'd noticed.

"I _plan_ on having then stay with me."

Her shoulders drooped slightly, but her sober lavender eyes told me that she'd expected this. "Is that what you want, or what they need?"

"Both," I answered tersely, and it was the truth. While I selfishly wanted to stay with them -for _them_ to stay with _me_-, I had the feeling that some of the wolves would have a few choice words for me if I decided to leave. "However, my decision isn't the one that ultimately decides what happens to them."

Klaud looked more interested in the meaning behind that statement than she had about my acquirement of her details. "If not yours, then whose?"

"The Alpha's." Before she could ask what I knew she would, I quickly added, "The way they interact and behave is like wolves. They're a pack, and at the head of that pack is the Alpha."

Mulling that over, she stuck out her hand, and I gave her my folder. "You _did_ help us." Klaud shut the rest of the folders and put them all in a small neat pile, working slowly, as if there was something else on her mind. "We'd already located two bases. Unfortunately, both times, by the time we'd arrived, all of the subjects and information on the servers had been destroyed."

The chill that made my bones ache and my blood run cold was soon replaced by disgust. Disgust for those bastards who treated lives as disposable. Disgust that swelled up in my stomach and slithered up my throat, making everything it touched feel unpleasantly hot.

"We still aren't sure how many research centres are out there," Klaud confessed, slipping the pile of folders back into the bag at her feet. "Is there anything you saw while you were inside the lab that mentioned possible locations of any others?"

Information appeared to be one of their main problems, and my destruction of the lab hadn't helped with that. "I… stole a laptop from that place. There's still… some stuff on it," I said, hesitant to admit the theft, even as her eyes lit up with the realisation of what I was implying. "I made sure to check it for bugs straight away. I guess I could… give it to you…"

"That would be very helpful," she said, and it wasn't long after that the mood shifted again. I could tell straight away that I wouldn't like what came next. "I'd like to schedule a meeting with the Alpha tomorrow. You said that he makes the decisions, so I'll discuss what happens next with him. If he wishes to remain with you, I'll go through the official paperwork with him and have them all properly registered as citizens of America."

What she was suggesting was… a good thing. It's what they needed, and Klaud would be able to make it happen. Still… I was uneasy for some reason.

"I think it would be best if you stayed home while I spoke with him."

I was instantly wary. The trust I had for people was limited, and she had yet to earn it. I doubted she ever really would. "If you hurt the Alpha, you'll have the rest of the pack to deal with." It wasn't a threat; it was a warning.

Klaud seemed to be aware of that, her creepy smile having returned. "I'll send your school an email to inform that your absence today was my fault," Klaud said, her tone carrying a note of finality. This was her ending the conversation.

"I guess I'll talk to the Alpha then," I grumbled, standing to leave. I didn't _have_ to like her, so long as she did as she was supposed to.

Mr Socalo was still where I'd seen him last, but he wasn't grinning any more. He was looking at Klaud, and if he'd had eyebrows, they would have been furrowed. As things stood, the dark skin if his forehead was creased with lines.

I escorted myself out, scurrying away from them just as I had our first meeting.

The talk had left me… drained. I was tired. All I wanted right now was to curl up and fall asleep in that mass of blankets and pillows and wolves, just as I'd been doing every night for the past week.

I didn't know how to broach the subject of my failure to Kanda, so I'd decided to leave it for now.

I didn't want to face my mistakes just yet.

The shame was too great.

I'd have to get home soon though, before anyone got suspicious, and the twenty minute walk would give me enough time to compose myself.

Halfway there, I saw a brightly coloured sign with the word _Sale_ printed in big fancy letters.

_Huh…_

…

Kanda was in the living room with the rest of the pack, his tail tucked around his body, muzzle resting on paws. I was by the stairs, a good four metres from the Alpha wolf, trying to gather together the tattered remains of my courage and confess to my mistake.

I didn't want him to be disappointed in me. I didn't want _them_ to be disappointed in me.

The meeting was tomorrow, so I couldn't get away with not telling him. I'd put this off for far too long already; he should have been informed immediately. Kanda had the _right_ to know.

"Kanda," I called softly, looking down at the floorboards. Even though I couldn't see him, I knew he was watching me. I knew he would be able to hear me. "There are some things… I need to talk to you about…" I spoke slowly, fiddling with the hem of my shirt as I purposely avoided what I knew would be his inquisitive gaze, foolishly hoping to delay the inevitable. "Alone."

I heard his claws scrape the wooden floors as he stood and padded over to me. When he prodded my leg with his nose, positioning himself directly in my downturned line of sight, I trudged up the stairs, leading him to my old bedroom. I held the door open for him, and when he entered the room in his two-legged form, I let the door swing shut.

Shame crept up inside my chest, and my cheeks burned, whereas my arms and legs felt incredibly cold. All in all, I felt horrible. "Um… erm…" I'd have to deal with this eventually, and dragging my feet would get me nowhere. "To start off… You know who the FBI are, right?"

Kanda didn't know where this was going, but still took the question at face value and considered it. "You mean those people with badges on TV?"

"Well… yes…"

He must've realised that I wasn't going to -that I _didn't want to_\- continue, because he sat his nude body down on my bed as if preparing to be here for a while. "What about them?"

"Y'see…" I bit my lip, shifting my weight to my other foot. I didn't want to say this; I wanted things to stay the same, but… I had to tell him. "They're… a real organisation… and… they were tracking the movement of… the people who made you guys." I squeezed my eyes shut, heart in my throat. "What I mean to say is… they know about you guys… and…considering what you are… they wish to meet…with you…"

The silence that followed was thick enough to cut through with a knife. It felt suffocating.

"And?" He prompted stiffly, and my heart dropped from my throat to my stomach. "What do you think about this?"

I reopened my eyes in surprise and found his usual nonchalance attempting to smother the seriousness in his expression that came with the severity of such a situation. I shifted back to my other foot. "I think it's a good opportunity."

"Why?"

I could tell that he was being rational, asking me, the human, because I understood human society better than he ever would. "They can offer you a lot of benefits… and give you things you need that I can't give you. You need things like I.D, passports, and a whole lot of other stuff… They can help with that."

While Kanda quietly contemplated that, I worried, anxiously stressing over what he would think.

What I'd done was both illegal and flashy, and I was only now realising just how stupid I'd been. I'd _blown up a building_ for Christ's sake!

It was like I'd been asking for trouble.

I gently touched his left knee with my hand, stealing back his attention, and then I asked him, in a voice that was almost a whisper, "Are you mad at me?"

Kanda frowned, as if not understanding the question. "Why would I be?"

"I screwed up," I reasoned, my voice breaking. _No. Don't cry. Don't! _A shudder ran through my body, and I felt burning hot tears wet my cheeks. _Stop it. Stop crying! _"The cameras… I just… It was my job and I… I didn't realise… that they were a newer model… with additional functions I wasn't… aware of…"

I was being stupid and weak and needed to stop crying _right now_. This was dumb. I was _better than this_.

Kanda took my hand from his knee and pulled me down beside him, and then he rubbed my head like I was one of the pups. "You said they can offer benefits, right? Isn't that a good thing?"

His crappy reassurance only made me feel worse.

**Yu Kanda**

Kanda was pissed.

Their human had obviously expected him to be angry, when he was actually -not that he'd ever outright admit it- quite grateful. Kanda had known that they'd be found eventually, and this was far better than being found by the people who'd created them.

That didn't stop him from hating these '_FBI_' humans already.

They'd made one of his pack mates cry.

Of course, soon after that, the human had taken his shower and gone to bed, no trace of tears left. Still… he hadn't once looked Kanda in the eye… Because of that, Kanda _may_ have gotten slightly annoyed and pressed his furry self right up against the human's back for the rest of the night.

The next morning, barely three hours ago, Kanda had donned his human form to talk with the boy, only to find that where their skin met, _his_ burned.

It was a new, odd sensation. Odd, but not unpleasant.

Allen had then woken up and hit him with a pillow, grumbling something about naked dogs and personal space. Later, Kanda had managed to get the human to explain more about what they'd talked about the day before.

He'd relented, speaking of a Klaud-human and a Socalo-human, and about how they'd been after the people who'd messed with the pack's lives.

The wolves had been created and had grown up in that place. On occasion, they'd been put together in the same area so that those people would be able to observe them and the way they interacted, and had thus formed a pack-like system. Kanda was the strongest, so he'd naturally become the Alpha of the group.

Fou was to be his replacement in case he didn't make it. She was a strong one.

However, it was with Lenalee and Lavi whom he'd developed a closeness with after their first taste of fresh air and seeing the outside world. They'd been there, the only two who'd managed to escape with him.

That was why these were the two he'd chosen to take with him. Well, there was that, _and_ because they would be able to blend in more with the human since they'd been outside longer than everyone else. Lenalee especially, as their human pack mate had taken her out to shop and settle some matters regarding the house. Right now, she was the wolf in the pack who had the most experience interacting with humans.

Lavi was relatively smart and would be able to imitate his mate if necessary.

Speaking of his male Beta…

"Where'd you get those?"

Lavi grinned, tipping his head to show off the black-and-green headband holding his hair out of his eye, and the black leather eye patch which replaced the bandages that had been wrapped around the right side of his face. "Like 'em? Allen bought then for me. It makes this," he said, pointing to his untameable red hair, "a little easier to deal with. Also, the bandages were getting annoying." The Beta winked -or was he just blinking? Kanda couldn't really tell-. "I'm a pirate."

"Today is serious," the Alpha wolf grumbled, because it _was_ serious. They were even wearing clothes for this. "Don't be your normal idiot self."

Still… When had the human bought gifts? And why only for Lavi?

Finding himself frowning, Kanda scanned over everything he could see from where he stood.

His pack was milling around the house, and he spotted Allen on the couch, giving Miranda a pat. She'd warmed up to him a bit more now.

Lenalee practically flew down the steps in a pair of back canvas shoes, slightly out of breath, a laptop clutched to her chest. She'd never really liked shoes, so she's been trying to get herself used to them before it was time to leave. "Is it time?"

She was barely a minute late, so Kanda didn't bother scolding the Beta. "Hn." He saw the laptop in her arms and _stared_.

Lenalee noticed what her Alpha's gaze was directed at and said by way of explanation, "Allen told me that this was for them. He already stored everything on it to an extra hard drive just in case." When she'd asked him what that had meant, he'd said it meant he had his own copy of the information.

Meanwhile, Kanda had understood maybe half of that, and since didn't want to have to ask, he just nodded. "We're leaving."

The trip wasn't a long one. The trio spent the time looking around themselves and acquainting themselves with the environment: there were still many trees even though they were going further into human territory; there were some houses, and their numbers increased the closer the wolves got to their destination; there was also the stray metal pole that gave light when it was dark, along with wooden ones that were connected by black lines.

Along the way, some human males had whistled appreciatively when they'd seen Lenalee, and had received growls from the two boys flanking her.

Kanda and Lavi had found that growling tended to work wonders when it came to deterring humans.

When the three all stepped in to the blue and white building Allen had shown them, they were met with two surprised humans that reeked of coffee and confusion.

"Can we help you kids?" The bored one in the tight hat asked, before taking a sip from what was actually his fifth mugful of the day.

"They're for me," a woman piped up, peering at the trio from a hallway behind the front desk. Her hair was blonde and she had a scar on her face, and she was really _looking_ at them, like she was evaluating them or something.

Kanda knew instantly that this was the Klaud-human he'd been told had confronted Allen. If he was in wolf form, his fur would have been on edge; he hadn't seen her in his initial sweep of the surroundings.

She was one to be cautious of.

"I'm pleased that you agreed to speak with me," the Klaud-human keenly confessed, though her tone was gracious and dutiful. "Let's go somewhere more private, shall we?"

They went along with her request, allowing the Klaud-human to lead them to a grey room that the wolves didn't like. It was too small and drab and smelled of humans. There was another human in the room too, and he reminded Kanda of a predator. Just like them.

Kanda would not deny that the Klaud-human's presence commanded respect. It may have been her sharp eyes, or the way she carried herself with her straight back and graceful movements, but it was there.

If she were a wolf, Kanda would fight her to ensure that his place in the pack remained as Alpha.

The Klaud-human moved around the table and leant her hip against the other side, facing the wolves while a hand full of shiny, perfect nails took her weight, fingers splayed on the grey surface.

There was only one chair on their side of the table, so all three wolves unanimously decided to remain standing.

"I tried talking to Mr Walker a couple days ago, but it didn't quite work out," the Klaud-human said, launching straight into the conversation to get it flowing. She wanted to lead this discussion, to test the waters a bit and find out what to expect.

Lavi's mouth fell open as realisation dawned on him and the dots connected, the wolf then pointing an accusatory finger at the female human. "So that was your fault?!"

Though she was taken aback, the human didn't show it. She'd been trained not to. Behind her, she saw Socalo's hand twitch towards the gun at his shoulder holster, most likely in response to the wolf's outburst. The weapons they now carried were to serve as a precautionary measure in case the subjects turned violent. A quick wave of her hand stilled her partner. "I don't understand. What exactly are you accusing me of?"

The wolves all sensed the movement behind them, and they saw the Klaud-human's minute gesture, but when nothing happened, some of their tenseness ebbed away.

"Allen came home really angry earlier this week," Lavi soon informed the woman, his brief explanation accompanied by hand motions. "I tried to talk to him, but he was really scary!"

Before that topic had the chance to become all they talked about for the next hour or so -because he knew Lavi and that idiot could talk his mouth off about _food_ for hours on end-, Kanda, straight to the point, asked, "What did you do?"

The human woman dragged her eyes from the energetic red-head to the indifferent blue-eyed young man in the middle of the group. His companions were half a step back, one on each side, and she could see the way they looked at him when he spoke, like he was the most important thing in the room. He was definitely the Alpha Allen had spoken of. "I was under the impression that your group would be more hostile or animalistic," she admitted truthfully, knowing that animals were more sensitive to deceit. She didn't want to lie or mislead them, not when she wasn't one-hundred percent sure about what would happen if she crossed the wolves. "Certainly not as civil as the people I'm speaking to now. I called you '_things'_, and that upset Mr Walker. Seeing you now, I can understand why he reacted the way he did. I insulted his friends."

"That's it?" Kanda queried dubiously. This was… unexpected. He hadn't considered something like that being enough to set their human off.

In contrast, a different thought was at the forefront of Lavi's mind. He strode forward and placed his own hands on the table, wanting to correct a facet of the Klaud-human's revelation. "We're not friends. We're a pack."

The assertion was mushy, but honest. The only female human in the room found that she could appreciate that. Even if it made her want to chuckle. "He's human," she said, stating the obvious. She hadn't necessarily meant it as a contradiction or an objection, but as an attempt- a means to find out _more_.

About how they thought and what they did and how Allen Walker had gotten in their favour and if that boy really was alright staying with them and-

She still had a lot to learn.

Lavi relaxed a little and stepped back until he was by his Alpha's side once more. "That doesn't matter anymore."

To Klaud, this suggested that, at some point, it_ did matter_.

"Why didn't you want him here?" Was Kanda's next question as he tried to redirect the conversation. There were things he wanted to know.

"I didn't want him hearing what we talked about in case it triggered a panic attack." And then, just to check, "You do know about his circumstances, correct?"

They didn't know what the word 'circumstances' even meant.

Actually, they didn't know what a panic attack was either…

The human woman wasn't surprised with their puzzlement. Neither was the male one.

Allen Walker hadn't seemed the type to surrender facts about himself that easily. It was possible that this group hadn't been with him for long. There was a chance it'd only been a month or two, at the most.

She pulled out the file on Mr Walker she'd shown him yesterday, opened it and read. "Allen Walker is a European male of sixteen years old with a hacking hobby and PTSD. He spent many months in the hospital as a child and afterwards refused to take pills or see a therapist. He only recently got off a suspension. He has no living family and his current guardian is…" She frowned as she re-examined the next few lines. "Child services would beat this Cross Marion with a stick if they knew…"

Adults were supposed to stay and nurture adolescents, especially if their ward was one as messed up as Mr Walker. He needed supervising and help, not a guardian who regularly bar-hopped their way across the country for fun.

She would have to look into this man some more.

"I've met him," Lenalee calmly told the human. "He's not that bad."

Kanda frowned, side-eyeing the beta female. "When?"

"When Allen and I went out," she said, looking at her Alpha. "He asked me lots of questions, and he was definitely worried about Allen, even though he tried to hide it."

While that _did_ suggest that the Cross-human wasn't so bad, but Kanda was still unsure. After all, Allen had been left alone.

Weak pack mates had to be protected.

The Klaud-human was staring at the folder in her hands, eyes now on the picture of Allen Walker with a false smile on his face. The backdrop was the boring mottled one used on school picture day. "He should be letting someone take care of him instead of involving himself in this mess."

The three wolves understood that by '_this mess_', she was referring to them.

"He needs to be careful, or he'll break."

Kanda then and there deemed the Cross-human unnecessary. Allen had _them_ now. They'd look after him.

_They'd_ be the ones to fix him if he broke.

The woman quickly realised that they still had very important things to discuss but were getting off track, just like the talk with Mr Walker. She figured they'd better start dealing with the more pressing matters before it got too late.

Mr Walker might have an aneurysm if these three weren't back soon.

"Now, I think you should know that you don't have anything that proves you exist. No IDs or birth certificates. As things stand, you won't be able to learn to drive or even access medical services." Unless the wolves went to the hospital where Mr Walker's Indian friend worked, who now knew about their peculiarities.

She knew this because she'd had her people be _very_ thorough.

"Would it be alright if I put down your guardian as Allen Walker?"

"Guardian?" Lenalee repeated questioningly. "You mean like that Cross-human is to Allen?"

The human woman decided not to mention the '_Cross-human_', figuring it to be the way they identified people outside of their species. Or pack, considering Mr Walker was '_Allen_'. "If you get injured or in trouble, he'll be the one called."

Kanda liked that idea. If Allen was notified when a crisis occurred, he'd definitely be able to fix whatever it was. He was the only human that Kanda actually trusted. That any of them trusted. "Do it."

This was progressing far more smoothly than the woman had anticipated. That was good. "We can get you the paperwork you'll need. It'll take some time though. These things always do." Now that she'd met them and seen what they were like, she could put in the request. Since this was a serious matter, she guessed the higher-ups would want to deal with this quickly. Or at least _quicker_ than their usual snail's pace. After it was done, they'd then have her regularly check up on the wolves for monitoring; it wasn't like they could just release a group of wolf-people into society without first putting measures in place to ensure the safety of the humans around them. "We'll schedule another meeting to discuss your origins and what you remember. Hopefully I'll have the papers ready in a month's time. There are fourteen of you in total, correct?"

"There are." Lavi looked at Kanda, and then at Lenalee. "But only thirteen of us can make our bodies human."

Hevlaska hadn't been made able to change her form.

When silence followed Lavi's response, Lenalee decided now was a good a time as any to step forward, holding out the laptop. "This is for you."

The Klaud-human wordlessly took the offered device, giving Lenalee a curt nod. She'd been waiting for this ever since Mr Walker had mentioned it. "We're all done for today. Any questions?"

The wolves paused to think, all looking from one to the other. They were still apprehensive about the whole thing, but if Allen said it had to be, then they'd do it.

Lavi returned his gaze to the Klaud-human, green eye curious. "What's school? Allen goes all the time. It's just… he never really talks about it."

Kanda elbowed the male Beta, forcefully taking back the red-head's attention. "The Moyashi told me that it was a place humans go to learn."

Of all the things they could have asked, the human woman hadn't for an instant expected this. "It is," the Klaud-human said with another nod. "It prepares young people for life."

The wolves couldn't picture it. The only learning they'd ever had was always accompanied by pain. They'd lost their food privileges or been put in solitary confinement for a week if they got the answer to a question wrong, and had been zapped by some kind of long black stick if they hadn't acted as they were told to.

Their human always had a food resource available to him and came home at around the same times every day. The wolves also had yet to see any marks on the human's skin -except those bruises Kanda had glimpsed on Allen's neck, but he'd already found out from Tiedoll that Fou had attacked the boy. Kanda didn't reprimand her because she'd thought she was protecting the pack, and he couldn't fault her for that-, which meant that the way they'd been taught was different to the human way of learning.

The boy didn't come back hurting.

Most of the time.

Kanda found himself feeling dissatisfied. Was their human going through an ordeal similar to that? Was that why he was often upset when he came back home?

The Alpha wolf didn't like the thought of a pack mate suffering. He'd have to speak with the Moyashi about this '_school_'.

The human spent a lot of time there, and to Kanda, that was time was better spent with the pack.

The rest of the pack was still getting used to having a human pack member, so spending more time together would be beneficial to both sides.

Kanda, Lavi and Lenalee could empathise with the wolves' caution, because they'd been the same in the beginning. Back then, they'd been mistrustful and watchful of the human's every move, ready to maul the boy at any moment. Kanda had even bitten Allen.

What the human needed was a proper place in the pack.

Kanda thought it over, mind picking apart and going through the boy's physical characteristics and personality. Their human was small, mostly docile and easy to subdue, along with somewhat submissive. That would make him an Omega like Miranda, who was the only one they had in the pack.

If he were an Omega then… the Moyashi was eligible for a mate.

Omegas were reserved for Betas and Alphas since they needed protecting, either because of their weak bodies or their weak minds. Kanda was the only Alpha, and there were currently only four Betas – there used to be more, but… not everyone made it.

That left him five potential suitors.

Marie had Miranda. Lenalee and Lavi had each other. Fou would never take a human as her mate, Omega or no. That left Kanda.

He wasn't averse to the idea of having a human mate anymore. If fact, he wouldn't mind having the boy, even if the human couldn't produce young. Allen Walker had already proved himself to be an essential element to the pack.

The human had fed them and had even given them a place to stay, though Kanda wasn't so sure about that frail and pale human body. To wolves, an appealing body was one that was both strong and healthy.

Kanda then thought about the burning touches and the strange feeling in his stomach. Contact with the human did weird things to his him, yet… Kanda didn't hate it.

Perhaps it _wasn't_ happening because there was something wrong with him, but because… it was Allen.

"Lavi, Lenalee," Kanda said, wanting their attention for this. He would announce his plans to these two first, before speaking with Fou and the rest upon his return. "The Moyashi is…" Kanda's would-be declaration trailed off, the second half stuck in his throat. After this, there would be no going back. He thought about what that really meant, and then decided that he was being stupid. He'd already decided, so why was he second guessing himself now? "The Moyashi's mine."

"Technically he already belongs to you since he's part of the pack," Lavi reminded his Alpha, not quite picking up on the actual meaning behind what Kanda had said.

"I want the Moyashi as my _mate_," Kanda clarified, looking Lavi directly in the Beta's single green eye.

Lenalee, who was stunned by the unexpected statement, slowly questioned, "Are you… sure that's wise?"

Lavi's face went blank. He wasn't angry or upset or anything of the sort, it was just… he was still in the midst of processing the declaration. He already had Lenalee, and… He liked Allen, and of course he loved his Alpha. If those two got together then… Lavi's hands clamped down on the Alpha's shoulders, the Beta male excited and grinning. "Go for it."

Lenalee let herself smile, pushing down her uncertainties. She was worried about their human pack member, but maybe this would serve to be a good chance for him. Maybe he just needed a mate, and who better than her Alpha?

Throughout all of this, Klaud watched with eyebrows raised.

()()()

_So I screwed up and accidentally put the content of two chapters in here. I wasn't aware, because what I do is put everything in one document, label the chapters, and then type down the basic story outline and dialogue as it appears in my head. _

_Anyway, for some reason, I didn't click that the two meetings should be in different chapters to keep the word length at 1500-ish and have only one major thing happen a chapter, but I've decided to just leave it and not go through the hassle of changing things. _

_(The way Klaud and Allen's conversation went, it seemed natural for Allen to give up the laptop. That upset me. I gave Allen that laptop because I thought it would make him happy, but now it's gone.)_

()()()

Previous Chapter – **Guilty**

Next Chapter – **Comfort**


	20. Chapter 19 - Comfort

**Chapter 19 – Comfort**

()()()

**Allen Walker**

I felt incredibly guilty for failing them.

One job. That was all I'd had to do. _One damn job_, and I'd screwed it up.

The FBI had located us as a direct result of my mistake. Technically I should be pleased, because they'd said help us. The problem was that I wasn't such a trusting person.

Still, it could have been worse. I was just glad that it wasn't more of those people who'd had a part to play in creating the pack. If it _had_ been them, thing would have gotten ugly.

I hoped to God that the meeting went well. I hoped that the FBI wouldn't try anything.

As it stood, my emotions were already a mess, my usual fake smiles a tiring chore to conjure up. That was why I was having a hard time subduing my reaction to something else Miss Klaud had brought up.

I'd tried to keep myself calm by spending time with Miranda, patting her head and stroking down her spine. She may have noticed that something was wrong though, because she would occasionally stare up at me with those sad big brown eyes, and I'd have to look away.

It was difficult to fool wolves. They were too sensitive to these things.

What lingered in the back of my mind and made tears spring to my eyes was that my mistake wasn't the worst of it.

Klaud knew exactly what had happened to me, and that made me feel sick to my stomach.

The people in town knew the basics of it. That is, they knew half the story. Their version was that Mana and I been robbed, and I'd burned down the house in panic.

I wanted it to stay that way. A story like that was one easier to digest -was one that wouldn't make me feel as _sick_ and wouldn't buy me useless pity from strangers- than the reality of what had actually transpired at our old home.

Klaud's conversation had only served to remind me of the truth, had reminded me that I was a disgusting, vile creature, one that had been tainted in the worst of ways.

My hands eventually stilled, no longer able to pat Miranda as my chest constricted and my breaths came out panicked and too fast. My vision swam, my jaw aching from how hard it was clenched.

Miranda hurriedly crawled off of my lap, and the second she was gone, I stumbled to my feet, trying to make it to the stairs without incident. When I made it there, I tightly clutched the rail of the stairs and managed to drag myself up three steps, my legs weak and wanting to collapse.

I clasped a hand over my mouth to muffle the gagging sounds I knew would come at some point or another, my teary eyes on the next couple steps.

"Oi," Fou -_of course it was Fou_-, snapped from behind me, an odd tone to her voice.

I allowed myself to glance at her once, and found the she-wolf far closer than I'd anticipated. A low whimper escaped my throat unbidden, my body betraying my current mental condition.

Fou tensed, red eyes suddenly sharp and serious as she looked me over and moved closer.

I foolishly attempted to back away and fell in my haste, tumbling down the three steps I'd climbed. The side of my head hit the ground and I cried out in pain.

Fou was instantly by my side, kneeling and touching my left arm.

Breathing hard, I pulled away from her, pushing myself back towards the steps. "Don't… J-Just… stay away…" I was afraid. I'd hurt them if they got too close.

_I'd be hurt if they got too close._

No. That wasn't it. I wasn't worried about _me_. _They_ were my priority.

Maybe.

Was I supposed to be worried about them… or me?

I couldn't think straight, my thoughts clipped and smothered by my panic.

What I knew was that I had to get away. I didn't want to do this where they'd all see.

Fou growled and reached for me again, so I slapped her hand away and glared. She recoiled, suspicion and hostility back in full.

It took me a while, but I eventually made it to my old bedroom, where I curled up in a ball on the floor and tried unsuccessfully to supress my own memories.

I could already feel non-existent hands touching me, reminding me of the time real ones had done that, forcing me open for their owner to do as he pleased to my body.

I could still see the burning wood split and blacken, could still smell the smoke from the fire and the gross salty stench of semen.

I could still feel the heat from the flames, along with the wet feeling of that _monster's_ fluids dripping from my ass and covering my legs.

Before I could stop it, bile slid up my throat and splattered the floor, and I was coughing, chocking as I heaved up whatever was left in my stomach. The next wave of vomit was just as bad as the first. It smelled horrible, the gross flavour coating my tastebuds. My throat and sinuses burned, my stomach aching hollowly.

**Yu Kanda**

Kanda and his two betas had been home for barely three minutes -and in their wolf forms for not even two- when they noticed that most of the wolves downstairs seemed to be casting strange glances at the stairs. From what Kanda could see, the three prominent looks were _worry_, _perplexity_ and _fear_.

'What happened?' Kanda asked Fou, because she was the one he'd given the important task of caring for the pack while he was away.

Fou lightly butted her head into Kanda's shoulder, tail drooping. 'There's something wrong with your human.'

Vaguely alarmed by that, the Alpha neared the stairs, sharp nose quickly picking up on the hint of a vile scent wafting down from above, and his furry ears perked up at the quiet sound of muffled sobbing.

Kanda practically flew up the stairs, body shifting back to human form mid-run. He found the human curled up in a ball on his bedroom floor, biting his normal hand to keep from being too loud. There were fresh tears wetting the boy's red cheeks, and his small body shook violently. Kanda made a beeline for the human boy, forcing Allen's hand away from his mouth and revealing the bloody crescents that now marked the pale appendage.

Allen pulled away from the wolf, scrambling back the second he registered Kanda's touch. "_Don't touch me_!" The human screeched, and when he tried to steady himself, he hit the floor as his hand slid on the foul patch of vomit he'd produced.

A few of the other wolves, having gained courage now that their Alpha was home and upstairs, scurried up the steps. Miranda, Timothy, Lavi and Lenalee were soon by Allen's bedroom door, watching on with shock as the human struggled to get away from their Alpha.

Fou, Reever, Komui, Daisya and Tiedoll all waited by the top of the stairs, listening as the human screamed at their Alpha and pleaded to be left alone.

Every wolf in the house could smell the human's fear. It was thick and heavy and made their fur stand on edge.

Kanda grabbed Allen by the ankles and yanked the boy back towards him, only to pause when he smelled a new scent that told him the human had releasing the contents of his bladder.

The kid had pissed himself.

"_Please stop_!" Allen cried in between sobs, failing to kick the wolf away. "_Leave me alone_!"

Kanda would not be angry. He would not yell.

He had to think objectively here. "Someone clean that up." He would also have to clean the human.

"I'll do it," Lavi said, and ran past the group by the steps so he could retrieve the cleaning products that their human stored beneath the kitchen sink.

Kanda then released Allen's ankles and hastily worked to strip his potential mate of all soiled clothing, already prepared to be struck at least once as the human boy screamed and thrashed about. He left the wet clothing on the floor and hoisted Allen up, receiving an elbow to the cheek as he carried his frightened pack mate to the bathroom.

The other wolves upstairs silently stared at the nude creature squirming in their Alpha's arms, Fou snarling and Komui's purple eyes narrowing when an angry fist beat against Kanda's chest.

"_Let me down_! Don't _touch_ me!"

Lenalee opened the bathroom door for the Alpha, and watched in horror as the blue-haired man forced Allen against the shower wall and turned on the tap.

The sound of the water did little to drown out Allen's shouts.

"I told you to_ stop it_!"

Kanda held the human's wrists to the wall, pinning the boy's smaller body with his hips while the water heated up, wincing as he was hit again. There'd be bruises tomorrow.

"Get him underwear," Kanda grunted, loud enough to ensure that Lenalee heard him over the human's rambling protests and the water. The kid would be sure to make an even bigger fuss if he remained nude.

Discarding words, Allen's screams reached new heights, pitch alternating between that of a high screech and a distraught wail.

Kanda suddenly started when the human fell unexpectedly silent, cautiously eyeing Allen's face. He recognised the queasy look and moved just in time to avoid wearing the kid's last meal.

When Allen finished choking, wheezing and breathless from the overuse his throat, he began writhing, and Kanda hissed, gritting his teeth as a heat shot through his body.

He elected to ignore this feeling for now, gathering both of the boy's wrists into one hand so he could use the other to pump soap into his palm, bending to reach the bottle and nearly losing Allen when the human tried to make another escape attempt.

With great difficulty, he managed to lather Allen with soap and wash the human's body.

"Stop," Allen rasped, voice hoarse and pleading.

Kanda didn't respond, instead wiping the boy's face of vomit.

When he deemed his job done, he cut the water and carried Allen out, before wrapping the human in a fluffy red towel he'd snagged from the rail. It took a while, but with Lenalee's help, Kanda managed to get the human boy's flailing legs into the correct holes of his boxers and pull the article of cloth properly on.

As it turned out, he relaxed too soon.

Allen broke free and frantically ran for the door in one last desperate attempt at freedom.

Kanda cursed.

Allen barely made it out of the door when he was caught by Reever and Komui, who'd shifted to their human forms to assist their Alpha.

Kanda's shoulders slumped slightly, and he dragged a hand down his face. What the fuck was even going on right now?

Reever awkwardly gripped Allen's arms, while Komui did his best to hold the boy's legs. One of Allen's hands got free and smacked Reever in the cheek, causing Komui to growl and sink his nails into the human's bare leg.

Allen whimpered and ceased struggling.

"Brother!" Lenalee snapped disapprovingly. She knew Allen didn't mean it. He was just scared.

Komui whined at the chiding, and if he'd been in his wolf form, his ears would have drooped. "At least he stopped moving."

Kanda's gaze went from Lenalee to Komui, and then he was by Reever's side, inspecting the wolf's face for damage.

The sandy-haired man nearly rolled his eyes and softly shook his head. "I'm fine. Where do you want the human?"

Kanda eyed Reever's cheek one last time before gesturing to the pack bedroom door down the hallway.

Komui was unsure as to whether or not that was truly the best decision, but nodded anyway without voicing his doubts and helped haul the human to the bedroom.

"No!_ Stop touching me_! Stay away!"

As expected, the instant Allen was let go, he pushed himself to the farthest corner of the room and stared at the group with wide teary eyes, sitting up and coughing weakly.

The wolves thought it unnerving how he looked at them, like he was only just now registering them as predators, and he was the cornered animal about to be slaughtered.

Lenalee stopped her Alpha when Kanda tried to get closer, disregarding the Alpha wolf's glare. "He'll start screaming again if you touch him."

Though Kanda didn't want to admit it… Lenalee was right. He'd spent the last ten minutes dealing with the kid doing just that, so he knew that trying something now would be a stupid move.

This situation was similar to when Allen had found out that they weren't just wolves. Back then, the human had also been a mess. They'd had to revert back to their wolf bodies to make Allen more comfortable and give him the time he needed to warm up to the idea of living with wolf-human hybrids.

Kanda's usual impassive expression returned as he ran that last point through his mind again. If Allen found it easier to be around them when they were in their original forms, then…

He shifted back from human to wolf, dropping to all fours as his fur grew out and a sleek tail sprouted from tailbone.

Allen's grey eyes were on Kanda, who lowered himself and shuffled forward in tiny, nonthreatening increments.

Finally, after thirty seconds of crawling, Kanda nudged Allen with his wet nose. He heard the boy's breath hitch, but there was no cry. The human stayed put. Kanda moved closer still, and when he was ultimately eyelevel with the boy, two bare arms timidly extended and wrapped themselves around his upper body.

Without even a single objection, Allen let himself be slowly pushed down onto his back, his head finding the bedroom floor. Kanda knew it was because he didn't look human; Allen wouldn't be this calm if he did.

Kanda carefully pawed Allen's chest, testing the waters to see how the kid would react. No reaction had him nipping the boy's chin, and then Allen's soft ear.

The human's eyes slid shut as he released a groan and bared his neck, a sign of submission if ever Kanda had seen one -and he'd seen a lot, because he was Alpha-. Allen shifted and squeezed Kanda tighter when the wolf licked his neck.

He'd done something wrong, but his brain was scrambled and he didn't want to think. Allen couldn't think.

His throat felt raw, and his face was achy and tired.

His entire being was exhausted.

Sometimes emotions and memories were too much.

"I'm so tired," Allen breathed, turning his face into the blanket below him.

Most of the wolves may not have trusted Allen, but their instincts kicked in and caused them to converge on the human, pressing in with quiet whines to relax their stressed pack mate.

Because, despite it all, Allen _was_ a pack mate.

It took a long time, but Allen eventually fell asleep surrounded by the warm furry bodies of the pack, Kanda settling beside him.

For the wolves, it was too early in the day for them to sleep just yet, so instead they watched the human breath, in and out, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

Fou, from her spot by Allen's left foot, then quietly asked, 'What was that?'

'He panics sometimes,' Lavi answered, trudging in after having finished his task and navigating his way through the mass of wolves to plonk himself down by Lenalee on Allen's left side.

'So this isn't the first time,' Fou queried. This would have been better mentioned at some point before now. Being left in charge of the group meant that she needed to know if there was a problem with a member.

'It's the first time we've seen it this bad,' Lavi corrected her, propping his snout up on Allen's flat stomach.

Kanda contemplated what that meant.

It was possible that Allen's mental state was a lot worse than he'd let them know.

That actually seemed likely. Allen never did tell them much about himself.

Omegas were supposed to be more forthcoming, dammit.

As Kanda's mate-to-be, the boy would have to be taught to not hold things in and keep secrets. It was bad for one's health.

Speaking of secrets…

'There's something you should know,' Kanda said in a tone that had the whole group listening. He could be authoritative when he wanted to be.

Lenalee and Lavi knew what was coming, and now they definitely knew that it was a good idea. Allen needed the stability of some kind of relationship to make coping easier.

'I've decide that I'll be taking the Moyashi as my mate.'

The general shock of wolves was expected. There was a low chorus of whines and yips that made the human stir, so Kanda silenced his pack with a short growl.

'Considering his personality type, he's an Omega,' Kanda explained when everyone had quietened down and Allen had stopped squirming. 'I want him.'

Miranda's ears flicked up, her interest piqued.

Allen was the same rank as her, who'd been the only Omega in the group for longer than she could remember.

While she normally wasn't one to comfort people… Miranda shuffled closer, pressing her muzzle under the joint of Allen's knees and wriggling herself so that her long furry body was beneath his legs.

She really didn't mind Allen. He'd been nice to her since the moment they'd met.

Plus, it would be nice to have another Omega around.

()()()

_All who hate me say "aye"._

_*whispers "aye" as I reread the chapter*_

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Previous Chapter – **Allies**

Next Chapter –** Unexpected Expectations**


	21. Chapter 20 - Unexpected Expectations

**Chapter 20 – Unexpected Expectations**

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**Yu Kanda**

When the human awoke, the first thing he did was blearily blink, regaining his bearings and trying to understand why his head throbbed and why his eyelids felt so heavy. He also wanted to know why his body was so weak and tired.

The second thing he did was pale as he recalled the events of the previous day, dread and shame settling in his empty stomach.

Kanda sat up beside the boy, already in human form. He could feel the tender purple bruises on his chest from when Allen had hit him, but he ignored them. They didn't really matter. "We talked with that Klaud-human," he said, hands finding their place by either side of his potential mate's head as he leaned from the right over the human. "Apparently you were upset with the way we were referred to."

With the light streaming in through the large window close by, Kanda was able to see human's cheeks pink with embarrassment as he looked away.

He tried his best to scowl over a red furry head at the wall to his left. "So what?" The warmth of the wolves led him to quickly become aware of the fact that his position was one he'd never been in before. There were many wolf bodies pressed close, and he even felt someone's wet nose in his neck. There was a body under his legs, and another touching his feet. Allen then belatedly realised that he was only wearing boxers. "I can get angry about whatever I want," he muttered, because this was _humiliating_ and there were some things he'd rather have left unsaid.

The Alpha wolf smirked down at the boy, who was doing a poor job of defending his own actions. He saw the flushes of colour stain more of the human's fair skin, creeping up and turning ears red. Though making Allen change colours was interesting, Kanda knew not to be deceived by this show of weakness, for despite the small human's nature and issues, he was a fighter.

Kanda respected that about the kid.

"What?" Allen asked shyly, put off by the staring, and that was all the Alpha could take.

He knew that it wasn't a good idea to do this so soon after what had occurred yesterday, but patience had never been Kanda's strong suit. Without requesting permission or testing the waters a bit to see if Allen was ready, Kanda pulled the human by the chin so that they were facing each other again and closed his eyes as he dropped his head to mash their lips roughly together.

His partner was human, which meant that he had to do this the human way. It also meant that the only information he had regarding human coupling came from the TV, but Allen had said that TV wasn't to be trusted.

Kanda bit down a little too fiercely on the boy's bottom lip as he moved one of his arms to help prop himself up, his free hand finding the back of the human's head to force them together. He grabbed a handful of Allen's hair and tugged, eliciting a choked gasped from his otherwise silent partner.

This was how Kanda were supposed to do it, right?

He tasted some blood as he shoved his tongue into the human's mouth and figured it was probably from the biting.

Kanda clumsily continued to kiss the boy, trying to get Allen to actually _kiss him back_.

Allen didn't even attempt to move.

Feeling cautious and mildly offended, Kanda drew back, and was barely able to hide his surprise when he was met with two terror-filled grey eyes. "Why aren't you doing it too?" He inquired brusquely to mask his worry. When he received no answer, he gracelessly pressed their lips back together in another effort to get Allen to participate. Maybe the dumb brat was startled or needed more time to wrap head around what was happening.

Allen still didn't move.

Had Kanda done it wrong? Was that why Allen wasn't speaking or doing anything?

He pulled back again and growled, not quite sure what to make of the situation he'd found himself in. Beneath him, Allen was still quiet and was currently undergoing another colour change, only this time the pinks were fading as horror set in.

This latest reaction told Kanda that _yes_, he _had_ done it wrong. However, even knowing this did not prepare him for when the human boy shoved away his hand and nearly tripped over Miranda as he tore out of the room.

There was a short silence as everyone in the room tried to process what had occurred, the other wolves having been awake long ago and quietly watching to see how their Alpha's conquest would play out.

Lavi, who always knew what to say at exactly the wrong time, sat up and commented with, 'I think Yu-chan got rejected.'

'Idiot!' Lenalee harshly nipped the male beta, who yelped in pain. That served him right for joking in this kind of situation. Their Alpha was serious about this, and… Lenalee looked at the door that lead out, worried about the pack's human. 'Something's wrong.'

"Shit," Kanda growled, irritated and confused because _what the fuck_. How badly had he screwed up? How badly was Allen screwed up? Why hadn't he waited a little longer before trying this?

Lenalee shifted to her human form and brushed Kanda's shoulder with her fingertips, not letting herself become rattled by that ferocious expression even though her instincts demanded that she drop and submit before her Alpha. "I'll check it out." She was good with Allen. If she was nice enough and applied a little force, she'd be sure to find the problem.

Allen just had to comfortable for this to work.

That was why she went to the chests of draws lining the wall with the bedroom's door and sifted through her small piles until she found a pair of shorts and a plain black singlet.

**Allen Walker**

I slammed the door to my bedroom and make sure to lock it, reinforcing the barrier that would protect me from the rest of the world.

Panting from what I knew was not just physical exertion, I stumbled to my bed, desperate to hide away and wrap myself in the protective cocoon I could make of my blankets. Only vaguely did I notice that the room did not stink, far too busy tugging up the sheets to cover my quivering frame and fighting back the bile that rose up in the back of my throat, which still burned from last night's upheaval.

My body subconsciously curled in on itself, fingers digging into my upper arms and nails biting into the skin.

_Why did he do that? What was he trying to do to me?_

I shuddered, chills running up and down my body as my eyes went unnaturally wide.

A certain fear I'd been sure would never have a proper reason to resurface ate away at me like insects feasting upon my flesh, my skin crawled at the very thought of someone once more touching me in that way.

_Don't think about it._

My heart thrashed loud and painful against my chest like a jackhammer as I breathed in quick short breaths that gave me nowhere near enough air. Tears slid their way down my cheeks, leaving a stinging trail in their wake.

_Stop it!_

I whined and gripped myself harder, nails drawing blood.

This was bad. I was scared and didn't really know what was happening and was Kanda going to come in here? Was he going to touch me?

_Don't think about it._

I gagged, throat horribly tight as my body seized up. Both it and I wanted to vomit, but there was nothing left. My stomach had nothing more to give.

_The door's locked. He can't get in. _

He could. I knew he was strong. If he wanted to, he could break that door down.

_No he can't. This is an old house. The doors and frames are solid wood. _

I was startled by the sudden sound of knocking against my bedroom door.

The panic came back full force.

It was Kanda. It was definitely Kanda.

I went to crawl out of bed but the sheet I'd wrapped around myself bound my legs together and caused me to tumble to the floor. While struggling against the sheet holding me captive, my only thought was to _get away_.

There was another rap of a fist against the door, though it was lighter this time. "Allen," Lenalee called, her voice muffled by the thick slab of wood that protected me. "Are you alright? Can we talk?"

I relaxed slightly.

It wasn't Kanda. I was safe for now.

My mind then chose to replay her words.

_No_. I didn't want to talk. I wanted to hide.

I wanted to _die_ because I was scared and I hated how scared I was and that only made me feel worse and I _didn't want to be touched_.

"Allen, I want to help."

Lenalee basically served Kanda, so I didn't know if I could trust her, but she was a nice girl. I liked her.

I wanted to trust her.

"Is h-he out there?" My voice was rougher and more broken than what I was used to; I could thank my current state for that. Still, my voice did its job. As long as she could hear me, how I sounded didn't matter.

"He isn't."

I hadn't specified who, but she'd known. Of course she had.

Deciding to give _trust_ a go, I breathed in and grasped the cold handle. Before I could open the door, I noticed that I was still only in my boxers. My face flushed red and I quickly pulled on a t-shirt.

I rubbed my eyes to hide the obvious traces of tears and opened the door to find Lenalee in a simple black singlet and shorts. To be sure that she was alone, I poked my head out and glanced down hallway. All that was out of place was the purple head poking out from the wolves' room. The colour told me straight away that our audience was Komui, Lenalee's overprotective brother.

Once certain that I was safe for now, I returned my attention back to Lena and her clothes.

She really was kind. Lenalee knew I hated nudity, so she must've thrown the garments on to make this less stressful for me.

That… wasn't what I was supposed to be thinking about right now. There was something I had to know

I kept a hand on the frame of the doorway to keep me steady and let my eyes dart back down the hall. "Why did he do that?"

"He told us that he plans to make you his mate," Lenalee said, and I could tell that she was watching and waiting to see how I would respond to that.

_Wait. Mate?_

Was that like _lover_? Did that mean Kanda wanted to _touch_ me?

No no no no. Just… _no_. I couldn't allow that.

"He won't do anything you don't want him to," she assured me, and smiled. It wasn't happy, and there was a lot of sadness hidden behind it, but it was still a smile.She extended her arms, holding them open long enough for me to understand that she was letting me choose. She wouldn't force contact. If I wanted to, I could, and if I didn't, that was fine too. "He wasn't trying to frighten you."

After a slight pause to consider, I launched forward into her chest, allowing the she-wolf to wrap her strong thin arms around me.

It was her voice, so gentle and _kind_, that pulled me out of my thoughts and made me want to cry all over again.

"Please tell me what's really going on."

()()()

_There's your kiss. _

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Previous Chapter – **Comfort**

Next Chapter –** Solutions**


	22. Chapter 21 - Solutions

**Chapter 21 – Solutions**

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**Yu Kanda**

Kanda was by Komui, using the wall between him and the hallway to hide his wolf body from the human boy's line of sight.

He didn't want to be sneaky and act like this. He wanted to be headstrong and confront Allen so that he could figure out what was wrong, but he couldn't. The Alpha knew that he was brash, overly insensitive and would only make matters worse.

This situation was his fault anyway.

Kanda had understood that the human had problems of his own. He'd tried to work around those and deal with any panic attacks accordingly. And that _had_ worked. His mistake was that he hadn't considered why Allen reacted the way he did. He hadn't thought to inquire about why the boy was cautious of physical touch and why he'd vomited yesterday and _what about humans he was so afraid of_.

Really, Kanda couldn't blame the kid for the last part. Humans _were_ a horrible species. Still, Allen was human; that meant he should have been able to get along with them more, didn't it?

Then Kanda recalled the quiet stares when their human had first taken them out for a walk, before they'd shown him that they weren't all that they appeared to be. The others humans had stared and whispered and actively avoided Allen. There was a large gap between them and him, one that neither party sought to bridge.

Allen must have been lonely before the wolves had come along. The multiple attacks their human suffered were proof enough of how his mental state had fared.

There could be no more major mistakes like this one. That was why Kanda would only listen for now.

Lenalee was better suited to handling this than he was.

High-strung and impatient, Kanda listened in on Lenalee's quiet reassurances, giving in to the urge to take a peek the moment he heard Komui's low growl. The Alpha tensed at the sight of Lenalee embracing Allen. The boy had been horrified when _he'd_ tried for contact. Allen had run away and locked himself in his room, yet here he was willingly letting himself be held by the Beta.

Jealousy and testosterone rolled off Kanda in waves, and every single wolf immediately sensed their Alpha's outrage. The ones closest to him assumed submissive positions, lowering their heads or dropping and rolling onto their backs to bare their vulnerable stomachs.

Kanda didn't spare any of them a glance, instead supressing a snarl as his gaze connected with Lenalee's. The she-wolf stared grimly back, and Kanda calmed slightly as he reminded of the fact that Lenalee had a mate and didn't want to take Allen as hers. Speaking of her mate… Kanda sensed Lavi coming up on his right and shifted to allow more room for the Beta, who was fighting the urge to drop and roll as he too chose to silently watch Lenalee and Allen.

Lenalee's eyes dropped back to the human boy in her arms as she manoeuvred herself and Allen to the floor, and she said, "Please tell me what's really going on."

So that his voice would not be muffled, Allen propped his chin up on the girl's shoulder, his back to the watchful wolves. He did nothing about the tears wetting his stinging cheeks as his eyes slid shut and he turned his face into Lenalee's neck. "Do you…" He faltered, words failing him. Allen wanted her to know, he really did. He _had_ to explain this whole mess. Steeling himself and hugging Lenalee a little bit tighter, Allen tried again. "I have a condition called PTSD," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kanda heard him nonetheless. He also vaguely remembered the Narain-human mentioning Allen's PTSD while the boy was in hospital.

Even though she didn't really understand what the confession meant, Lenalee knew how admitting to having this 'PTSD' made Allen feel; the human's body was stiff and tense against hers, and his hands were scrunching the back of her thin black top. Lenalee moved her own hands to rub haphazard circles on the boy's back, hoping to ease his distress.

"People get it… when… they experience trauma…" Allen's eyes slowly opened, and he found himself staring at the fair column that was Lenalee's neck. "For me, it would be about five years ago… when I…" He trailed off, eyes timidly traveling up to her jaw. Her arms felt safe and secure. He liked this.

The sensation that came with being held… the one that warmed him to his core and made him feel _wanted_… Allen imagined this as something akin to a parent's embrace. If he still had a family… would this have been normal? Would he have been able to feel this every day?

If Mana had lived, would _he_ have held him like this? He couldn't remember much about his father outside of the day that the man had died.

"My father was killed… and…"

If Mana had lived, would things have been different?

The human breathed out a small _whoosh_ of air as a small shudder rippled through his tired being. Allen barely suppressed the next tremor, his body straining from the effort that came with containing his pain. His face returned to Lenalee's neck and he closed his eyes, hoping that he would remain quiet.

He tried, he really did, but it was too much to hold back.

The dam burst and his muffled sobs drew whines from the restless pack, who all had mixed feelings on whether or not they should go out and comfort their pack mate or stay in the room and wait for Kanda to make the first move.

A simple glare from their Alpha silenced them, and they didn't make another sound.

"And…?" Lenalee prompted, even though the boy still trembled. She needed Allen to talk more before he clamped back up again and decided that he was done speaking for the day.

Kanda needed this too.

Unfortunately, this was more difficult for Lenalee than it was for those observing. _They_ couldn't see it from their angle, so only she knew how Allen clutched at her, like she was a lifeline and letting go would see him drowned. The heavy burden that came with getting him through this rested solely on her this time.

"The b-body… _his_ body… It was _there_…" Allen didn't want to talk about this any longer. Yes, he wanted her to know, but he _didn't want to say this_. "Th-the person who k-killed him… It was the same r-room!" He cried, teary and gasping for breath.

Lenalee patiently waited until she thought that the boy could speak. Until she thought he'd be able to hear her over the sound of his own panic. "I don't understand."

Allen was confused for a second, his brain muddled by the hormones flooding his wrecked systems. Eventually though, he swallowed, gave the girl a pained smile and slowly removed himself from her. "Sometimes I forget that I have to make it obvious for you guys," he muttered to himself, and then attempted to continue on in a slightly louder tone, "He… r-ra…" Allen loathed that word. Trying to speak it always made him feel sick, especially now. To him, it was like some disgusting thing that wanted to crawl from his mouth, reveal itself to his housemates and flaunt his shame. "He… to me…" It would get out one day though. Allen figured it was better to let it out now when he was still mostly in control of himself than to have it sneak out or appear at an impromptu time later on in the future. "He r… raped… me…" God, he wanted to stop speaking, but he knew she wouldn't understand what the r-word meant. "A-and that's basically when… someone is… forced to have s-sex with someone else. So that person… made me… mate with him…I guess…"

He hoped she knew what he meant by that.

Dozens of ears stood at attention, everyone frozen and waiting for anything else their human had to say.

Seeing the horror that Lenalee failed to hide in time, Allen looked down. "There was b-blood everywhere. He did th_-that_ to me… while my father was just lying there…" He shivered again, his body growing cold as a bead of sweat slid down the back of his neck. "My face… He cut my face… His h-hands were already bloody… H-he wouldn't stop touching me with _those hands_…"

The wolves all turned their attention to their Alpha, who, by this point, was taken over by the need to _kill_. Something. Anything. Preferably the person who'd done _that_ to his human.

Kanda had expected a lot of thing, but this… _this_ wasn't it. This only reaffirmed his opinion that most humans were fucked up and deserved to be _put down_.

Why the heck did they feel they need to do something like this?

Why did they have to ruin everything they touched?

The boy was _defenceless_. What had he ever done to deserve such a thing?

"He was sm-smoking something…" Allen wasn't finished. Even though it hurt, he couldn't leave out the final part of the story. "He wasn't right in the head… an addict, maybe…" His sad eyes darted back up to Lenalee. "Th-things were on f-fire." It'd been so hectic at the time that all his memories were out of order, the sequencing of the day's events ruined.

Allen was sure he'd panicked and somehow caused the blaze.

He could remember his father dying. He could remember the man lighting a joint. He could remember coming home early because of an incident at school and having someone charge at Mana and him from the stairs. He could remember fighting back. He could remember the house burning.

He could remember being violated.

Allen chest heaved as he curled in on himself and choked on what air he managed to take in, his eyes and cheeks burning. His fingers dug into his arms as he rasped out, "They b-both ended up as burnt c-corpses…"

That man and… Papa. Father. Dad. _Mana_.

Mana who took in an orphan and raised him as his own. Mana who's smiles could light up a room and bring grins to peoples' faces.

Mana who was dead.

Lenalee grabbed both of the boy's wrists and forced his hands away from arms to keep him from hurting himself any further. This was hard. It was too difficult for her to keep herself composed in this situation where her pack mate was baring is heart and she had to act like it was all okay and that she could deal with this because that was her job right now and Allen needed her.

Kanda found his anger withering the longer this panic attack went on, his wetted rage replaced by pity and a hint of guilt. From his vantage point he could see Lenalee struggling to maintain her composure, however he couldn't do a thing; any attempts he made to help would only backfire and send the beansprout into another fit.

Learning that the person who had done the unspeakable to Allen Walker had burned to death served to dim Kanda's anger too. He felt that such a human deserved his end and was better off dead anyway. Still… he would have much rather been the one to do the deed. It would have been so satisfying to rip out that human's throat and dig his claws into the flesh of its stomach.

After Allen's breathing finally evened out into a more healthy speed and he was rubbing his wet cheeks and red nose with the heels of his hands, he hesitantly admitted, "I can't… I don't want anyone to… touch me…" He wiped his hands down the fabric of his t-shirt to clean them of his fluids. "I'm a complete mess anyway." When Lenalee reached for him, he drew back and cradled his stomach almost protectively in favour of crossing his arms. "I-I'm okay, just give me a second." Damn. He felt even worse admitting everything like this. Where the heck was that 'weight of your shoulders' crud the books were always spouting? "That why I don't normally… get too involved… with people. I don't get close."

Kanda _had_ noticed that many humans tended to avoid Allen – now it seemed that both parties were the cause. Neither wanted to interact with the other, and if any of what the boy had said reached outside ears…

Allen sniffed, and then he chuckled, his mouth twisting into a wry half-smile. "I'm pathetic, really. Weak."

Lenalee smoothed down the boy's hair and kissed his forehead, smiling to hide how deeply her pack mate's latest revelation had affected her. "No you're not." There was no way Allen was weak _or_ pathetic.

…

Lenalee had said that Kanda should let Allen get more used to him before he tried anything again. She'd told the Alpha that he would have to tread more carefully and be less forceful in displaying his affections.

Kanda grudgingly agreed, only because he didn't want a repeat of the last incident. As a result, he was rather snappish and had a low tolerance for pretty much anything. The fact that Allen was sleeping in his own room again wasn't helping.

The other wolves were all smart enough to avoid their Alpha; even Lavi knew that going near Kanda right now was like suicide.

Kanda's desire to rend something to shreds had yet to fade. He was aware that ruining the furniture would only upset Allen, so he had plans to engage in a more worthwhile venture: Kanda would hunt. He'd seen wolves and other canines on TV stalk and catch their prey, and he'd been pondering doing that himself for a while now. Considering his mood, this wolf thing that had at first seemed interesting would now be his new method to let out pent-up anger.

Their wide expanse of backyard melded into woodland, so it was easy enough for him to slip out and try it. No one would mind, surely.

He wandered until the sky grew pink from the setting sun, having occasionally come across animals that had all fled before he could make his attempt. Well, that, or they were reasonably large deer that he refused to hunt on his first try.

Finally he found a group of small rabbits. They were brown and fluffy, and moved with tiny hops, the twigs beneath them shifting and the leaves rustling slightly.

Kanda knew he could be quick and deadly if he wanted to. That's why he let his instincts take over, his ears twitching and his gaze sweeping over the immediate area surrounding him. When he found nothing around to distract him or cause him harm, his ears lowered and he held back a growl as his lips curled back to reveal his fangs.

He launched himself at the animals, the pleasant burn that accompanied the movement a familiar sensation he found he'd missed. It had been too long since he'd exercised last.

Kanda wasn't able to capture the first he snapped at, surprised by their speed and how quickly their little legs could carry them when they had the incentive. The second rabbit wasn't so lucky. Before he knew it, his sharp teeth had sliced through tough muscle and sinew, and a coppery taste had filled his mouth as the creature let out its dying cries and its companions scampered off to hide.

He killed the rabbit quickly, ending its pain by snapping its thin neck. Kanda didn't want to prolong its suffering, even if it _was_ his meal. He wasn't a human, after all.

Kanda sniffed the fresh carcass and nudged it with his nose, and after dismissing the idea of bringing it to Allen -the human probably wouldn't like a dead animal dumped in his lap-, he began to eat.

The sound of his chewing was loud in the near-silent forest, especially since birds had ceased their songs for the coming of night. Aside from the frequent rustling of the wind winding its way through the trees, it was quiet.

The Alpha wolf rubbed his muzzle against the grass when he was done, doing his best to clean off the remains of his meal. He could still feel the blood in his fur.

To him, the flavour had been alright, and the rabbit sated his hunger and bloodlust a bit, so Kanda couldn't really complain.

Allen's cooking was better though.

()()()

_Urg, life is making me sooo damn busy!_

_But man, look at this beauty of a chapter!_

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Previous Chapter – **Unexpected Expectations**

Next Chapter – **Back On Track**


	23. Chapter 22 - Back On Track

**Chapter 22 – Back On Track**

**Allen Walker**

I could tell that the way I ignored Kanda was putting him on edge, but I didn't have the strength to even look at him, let alone carry on a conversation. Every time we were in the same room together, all I could think about was what he'd wanted from me.

Speaking with Lenalee about the problem had left me… embarrassed. I'd let too much slip. What was worse, though, was that I'd been too flustered to realise that everyone else in the house would have been able to hear my deranged babble. _They_ now knew what had happened, too. The only good thing to come from this was that Kanda definitely wouldn't want me that way anymore.

I couldn't afford to fall in love, nor could I allow someone to love_ me_. It was wrong. That was why I'd hidden myself away in the downstairs spare room for the past few hours. I was the only one with the key to this place, so it made avoiding everyone a lot easier.

One of the upsides to my cowardice was that all this time spent in here meant that my piano was nearly fully built. The downside was that my stomach had been crying out for food for the better half of the day. It had been awhile since I'd eaten last. My last attempt hadn't gone so well. Whenever I tried to eat, my mouth would ache and my tongue felt as if it was retreating in disgust. Taking so much as a bite made me want to hurl.

I distracted myself from my hunger by focusing and putting my all into working on this room. The area was basically bare and in need of some sort of decoration, which was why I'd expressly sought out Tiedoll, who was silently watching Daisya and Lavi tussle and playfully nip at each other from the couch. Tiedoll apparently enjoyed painting and sketching, and I'd seen enough to know that he had a lot of talent.

Unsure of exactly how to start up a conversation, let alone broach the subject I had in mind to the wolf, I awkwardly stood by the entrance of the downstairs hallway. I should have known that I wouldn't remain unnoticed.

Tiedoll's kind brown eyes softened when he saw me, and I really hoped he'd say yes to what I had in mind.

…

Something wet prodded my ankle as I wiped my hands on a tea towel to dry them. I looked down to find a smallish blue wolf with scar in the centre of his furry forehead nudging me with his nose.

My lips turned up at the corners to form a small smile. Once I'd released the tea towel, I knelt down onto one knee and ultimately fell back on my butt as Timothy climbed into my arms. Even though he was the youngest, Timothy was still pretty big. I grunted at the sudden weight in my lap, but did nothing to remove the heavy wolf. Instead I snaked my arms around his body and tried to stroke along his spine, soon finding my actions to be something he took in stride.

Excited and full of puppy-like energy, Timothy pawed my chest and barked, his tail whipping from side to side.

I laughed and brought my bare hands up to play with his ears, but he intercepted them. When he finished chewing my knuckles, his rough tongue vigorously laved my hands with attention, leaving them covered in wolf slobber. "When did I become a chew toy?" I jokingly asked while retracting my hands and flexing them, noting the pink splotches covering my right. My face hurt from smiling so much. It'd been awhile since I'd been this happy.

That thought caused my smile to fade and the light feeling bubbling in my chest to disappear.

In sensing the mood, Timothy looked at me with his beautiful moist topaz eyes, the young wolf's tail slowing and drooping. He whined and butted my chin with his head as his ears twitched.

"He's mad at me," I said out of nowhere, and rubbed Timothy's neck, mussing his fur and making it stick out in odd directions. "Your Alpha must be annoyed, yeah?"

Timothy made sure not to scratch me with his claws as he climbed down and sat himself between my legs, showing me that he approved of my rubbing by tilting his head to the side and exposing more of his neck.

I bopped his nose, causing him to go cross-eyed while watching my finger before he wildly shook his head, his ears flopping about with the sharp movements. "I'm not really sure how to fix this mess," I admitted with a sigh and slumping shoulders. "I know he's good… He's a little slow and rough around the edges… but…" Pressing my lips together into a line, I scratched behind Timothy's two ears and watched his eyes close in contentment.

I liked Kanda, but I didn't _like _him. At least, I didn't think I did.

He made me feel comfortable and safe. When we slept together, he was always naked, sometimes with his muscular human body against mine and an arm draped across my waist. During his time here, I'd somehow gotten used to it. I'd be more uncomfortable if, say, Lavi were to do that. Did that make Kanda special? Was he the exception, or was I just too used to him touching me like that? Was I desensitised to Kanda's touch?

Even if the first notion was the case, I couldn't allow anything to happen. It was an unwelcome prospect for the both of us – I was terrified of that kind of commitment, and even more scared of what would happen; I would hit him just like before; I knew exactly how hazardous I could become. Kanda could do much better than a broken human like me.

My phone in my back pocket brought me back to reality as I alerted me via vibration to a text. I checked it to find that it was a message from my boss asking me if I could take a shift because one of my co-workers had called in sick again.

I pushed myself to my feet so I could plate up the raw meats and the cooked vegetables I'd put through a blender earlier. Researching vegetables healthy for canine consumption had resulted in multiple individual piles of mushed broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, kale and spinach. I returned my phone where I'd found it and stared at Timothy, who was circling my legs, his head lowered and his tail tucked close, leaving me wishing I understood wolf body language.

Pulling a knife from the drying rack on the flat part of the sink, I cut off a piece of meat and held it out for the wolf at my feet, who perked up and ate the morsel from my hand. Just because I couldn't eat didn't mean I that would starve everyone.

After re-wiping my hands on the tea towel, I picked up two plates and took them out to the tables. I'd put everything out like usual and then call the pack for dinner. They tended to eat in their wolf forms, so eating at the tables wasn't strictly necessary, but they did it anyway. This was also why I'd left the meat raw and blended their greens to help them properly digest it all.

I turned on my heel to retrieve the rest of the plates and nearly shrieked at the sight of dark eyes and annoyed expression.

"Hey… Kanda…" I said, my voice breathy as my eyes swiftly looked him up and down because I had _not_ expected to be confronted like this and had yet to forget the terror of our last encounter. Though I schooled my façade to something that resembled calm, I inwardly panicked while trying to move around the wolf.

He would have none of that. Kanda grabbed me by my thin t-shirt and refused to let go, his trademark glare in its usual place.

I swallowed my fear and pushed my hands flat against his chest. "Let go."

Direct and forward as ever, Kanda said, "I don't want to."

"Please," I whispered pleadingly, chest burning and eyes prickling with the threat of oncoming tears. I hated being like this. I hated crying at confrontation and feeling like shit.

He wouldn't budge when I attempted to pull away for a second time, and experience told me that I wouldn't be able to leave unless he allowed me to.

Furious tears overflowed and fell down my cheeks. "Why are you still doing this? You don't want me anymore, right?" Why couldn't he leave me alone?

"Who ever said I didn't want you as a mate?" He asked, making me cringe when he pressed his human nose into my neck. "I still do." His hands migrated from my shirt to my shoulders, giving both a tight squeeze that stole a wince.

I was scared when I shouldn't be. I knew that Kanda wouldn't ever actually hurt me. A part of me was actually happy that his feelings for me hadn't changed despite him knowing that I was defiled.

Still… he looked like a person, and people were things to be feared.

**Yu Kanda**

Kanda had been hunting again. Allen was in pain and hungry, so Kanda had instinctively sought out food for his potential mate, but Kanda still severely doubted that the human boy would like it if he were given a dead animal.

He'd been cleaning himself after snacking on a rodent when he'd heard the one-sided conversation Allen was having with Timothy. It was then that he'd decided enough was enough. Nothing would change it they were both too cowardly to make the first move and continued to stupidly skirt around the obvious problem like they'd been doing. This had led to him gently forcing the boy against the table and kissing along the pale column of the human's neck. While he worked, he could see the fear in Allen's eyes and hear the human's heart beating rapidly against his ribcage.

"You won't be able to hurt me." The words were growled, but that was just because Kanda wanted to drill them through Allen's thick skull. He needed the human to understand that _this_ was alright. He wanted Allen to want this.

"The brui-" Allen attempted, but was cut off.

"They've faded." And it was the truth. Only faint yellow blotches were left to serve as evidence of the bruises that had been there. Kanda didn't mind a bruise or two. They were his fault anyway. He'd been the one to get involved when Allen had been having that attack. "All you have to do is let me try."

The boy flinched as their lips lightly touched, a disgusted shudder running through his body when he realised he now sat up on the edge of the table with Kanda in control between his spread legs. His only protection was his clothing, and he knew that it wouldn't stand a chance against Kanda's strength if the wolf wanted the fabric gone.

"I'll stop when you want me to," Kanda said to reassure the boy, and pressed his lips a little more firmly against Allen's. He was refused entry inside the orifice by a clenched jaw that would not budge, so he pulled back to peck Allen's cheek and chin. When the boy scrunched up his nose, Kanda kissed that too. His hands slowly travelled down to Allen's hips, everything he did extremely awkward as he again attempted to imitate how humans had done it on TV. After their last encounter, Kanda had realised that his source hadn't been the problem; he just needed to be more careful with Allen.

Allen wanted this to stop. He wanted to stop the touching and the kisses, but he couldn't speak. His words were stuck in the back of his tight throat, unable to be voiced even as his chest heaved with every painful breath and his mind begged for a break. It didn't help that he had been fixated on no touching for so long now that his forgotten fears and feelings swamped him the moment the unthinkable had occurred. When not given the chance to properly think and with his mind was as chaotic as it was now, what Kanda had said didn't sound so bad, and that only made Allen even more terrified. Romantic relationships were a big _no_ in his book.

This left him extremely confused on top of everything else. Intimate contact was a thing he had always rejected, so the decision should have been obvious.

Then again, Kanda wasn't really a person. He'd made it clear on more than one occasion that he was a wolf before he was a human.

Though he was scared and on the verge of dry heaving, Allen tried to relax and not focus on how frightening this was. Teeth scraped his collarbone, and he shivered at a tingle shot up his spine. Allen reluctantly parted his lips, his stomach twisting while he desperately tried not to think about his disgust.

Kanda pounced at the opportunity presented before him. He reconnected their lips in a heartbeat, inserting his tongue in to explore and deepen their connection.

Allen felt a tongue brush his and nearly retreated in surprise. He was trying so, so hard. Trying to be strong and act like this was normal, because for other people, this _was_ the norm. To the rest of the world, he was the weird one for being like this.

Kanda was getting used to kissing. He liked that Allen wasn't fighting him or running away, and he enjoyed the closeness that came with what they were doing. Although he would have preferred it if the human were wearing less clothes, he was satisfied. His hands itched to go to Allen's thighs and continue his exploration of the human body, but he'd already gone far enough for today. Allen wouldn't be able to handle this for very much longer.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds longer before Kanda grudgingly pulled away. Allen didn't look too well, what with his runny nose and bloodshot eyes. He looked exhausted. "We'll stop now," Kanda said, panting slightly from the unfamiliar workout his mouth had undergone and the lack of oxygen sent to his burning lungs. His mouth had been a little too preoccupied to remember to do its job and breathe. Well, Kanda had received a not-quite-as-bad reaction this time around, so he counted that as his win for the day.

"I don't…" Allen's head was warm and he was blinking away the tears from earlier, some of which had already dried on his aching face. "I-I'm…"

Kanda took the bottom of the shirt Allen wore and brought it up to wipe the boy's face, helping to dry those wet cheeks and eyes.

A sad smile taking his lips, Allen simply let Kanda do as he wished, tiredly sitting on the ash-grey table closest to the kitchen door with his eyes closed and his hands by his sides. "Man, I bet I look horrible."

Kanda dropped the shirt and gave the human a brief onceover. "You do."

The human snorted and laughed when he reopened his eyes, having not expected Kanda to agree, and the wolf felt warmth bloom in his chest. "Listen…" Allen's smile thinned as he spoke and looked down, feeling rather uncomfortable with the conversation's topic and with Kanda's nude body still between legs. "If you… can… wait for me…"

"I can do that," Kanda affirmed almost immediately.

It was said with such sincerity that Allen's body automatically sagged with relief, the boy comforted by Kanda's confirmation. Although this particular wolf was an ass sometimes, he'd never lied. "Then I'll try."

"So you'll be my mate?" Kanda asked, just to make sure that he wasn't mistaking anything. The situation could go to shit again if he allowed miscommunication to have its way.

Allen shrugged and crossed his arms. He avoided looking up too much because he knew that Kanda's eyes were like missiles locked on a target, which didn't exactly making him feel any less ill at ease. "I guess?"

Thrilled with the answer he received, Kanda swooped back in, leaving the rest of the pack -who had been nosily listening in and observing the events from the couch- with nothing to do but watch their Alpha steal another kiss from the startled human.

It was when Allen turned his head to break the kiss and grimaced at the bothersome feeling of his phone digging into his butt did he notice the crowd of wolves. Eyes widening, the boy uncrossed his arms as his cheeks filled with colour. He made an effort to push the wolf away, embarrassed at having been caught in such a compromising position. "Kanda! They're watching!"

Sliding his arms around his mate, the Alpha did nothing more than smirk at the boy's apparent discomfort. "And?" He licked at Allen's neck, thoroughly enjoying himself now that the human had calmed down more. Kanda liked what he was seeing; Allen was panting, his skin covered in a light sweat and his face yet to lose its flushed colour. The wolf then bit down lightly Allen's neck, but drew back at the sound he received.

Allen had accidentally moaned a little bit, Kanda's pleasurable ministrations affecting him more than he'd expected. It was still gross, and Allen was still afraid, but he'd said he'd try, so he would. And if anyone asked, he would deny that he was hard. He scooted off table, desperate to escape the stares all on him. "I-I've got to set out dinner." It was a pathetic excuse, but thankfully Kanda let him go this time, allowing him to successfully flee to the kitchen after first fumbling with the doorhandle.

Lavi, being the only one to shift into his second form and the first to speak up, climbed over the couch and launched himself at his Alpha with a grin. "If that was what I think it was, congrats Yu!"

It took Kanda a whole six seconds to even think of pushing Lavi away.

()()()

_I went away this holidays but I did have my laptop, so I wrote whenever I had spare time. _

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Previous Chapter – **Solutions**

Next Chapter – **Another Day In The Life**


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